Quiet, Mild West
by The Author's Mighty Pen
Summary: It's anything but quiet and mild in the town of Downton when noted gunslinger John Bates rides into town.
1. Heaven and Hell

Over the whistle of the wind, the beat of the dust on her door, and the night howling of wolves and coyotes, she heard it. The steady tread of a horse, carrying something more cumbersome than just a saddle, and belabored wheezing. It came closer and she left her book on the table by her rocking chair to grab her gun.

Cocking it with a flip of the lever before bringing it back to the stock she opened her door and aimed. "That's far enough mister."

Even with the weak moonlight she could see his outline, swaying slightly on the horse in a motion that had nothing to do with strong winds. "You just turn yourself right around now and make for whatever lodging you need that's not here."

"My horse's almost lame and I can't get my bearings in the dark."

"Then you should've learned to navigate by the stars." She motioned with the end of her gun, "Be on your way now."

"You can't shoot me in this light."

She fired a shot, taking a chunk out of his saddle horn. His hands flew up as she pulled the lever again, the gun butt secure in her shoulder. "I don't miss and this light is more than sufficient for me to take off that rather large head of yours from this distance. And if I don't, this is a Spencer repeating rifle so I've got more shots where that came from."

"I understand, and I don't mean to cause any trouble."

"Then be on your way."

"I need a space in your barn where I can see to my horse. She's injured and can't go further unless I want to put a bullet between her eyes."

She bit the inside of her cheek before speaking. "Dismount your horse as carefully as you can. Once you're on the ground, take one hand, slowly, and unbuckle your gun belts. Toss them and that rather nice rifle on your saddle to the ground. Then you walk back five feet and wait."

He did as instructed, limping slightly on his right leg, and waited patiently. She walked forward, keeping the rifle trained on him, and bent to collect his belts and rifle before gesturing with the barrel of her own toward the barn. He tried to smile but she shook her head.

"I've got no time for pleasantries or gratitude. You need a place to see to your horse. Once that's done you mount her, collect your things, and be on your way."

"In the dark?"

"I hope you're not scared of it."

"Not as it is but being as I've never set foot in this vicinity before there's hazards out there that could have me leading myself and my horse off a cliff."

"Not my concern."

"Just a night, please." The man pointed to his saddle, "I've got money to pay you and I need to rest this leg before it gets bad."

She squinted at it in the dark before sighing. "Get in the barn. See to your horse and then yourself as best you can."

"Thank you." He gripped his reins, patting his horse's neck. "I'd thank you by name but I don't know it."

"It's Ms. Smith and, for now, that's all you need worry about." She retreated to her house, slamming the door and dropping the bar to keep it secured.

The guns belts and rifle clattered on the table as she uncocked her own weapon and leaned it on the door. His rifle was larger, made to fit his larger frame, and she immediately registered the weight in her own hands. Even fitting it to her shoulder was a struggle compared to the one she wielded like an old friend.

Examining the gun belts she admired the mother-of-pearl on one with ivory inlay before inspecting the onyx with ebony of the other. As she did so something clicked in her mind. She grabbed her rifle, leaving the others gun on her table, and marched to the barn.

Throwing the doors open she startled him. He tripped, holding his hands in front of his chest where her rifle pointed. His horse neighed, beating slightly against the stall but she ignored it.

"Tell me why I have John Bates's guns on my kitchen table."

"What?"

"Why are the guns belonging to John Bates, noted for pointing them in the faces of many a lawman from here to Kansas City, sitting on my table?" She raised the rifle, her gaze on his face. "Are you John Bates?"

"Yes ma'am."

"And you're here, taking refuge in my barn, and telling me you don't mean me harm?"

"I'd never harm a lady, ma'am."

"I'm not a lady and I don't pretend to be."

"Anyone who lends me the use of her barn for a night and takes a divot from my saddle horn is a lady to me and I've never met a finer shot than you."

"Be that as it may, you'd best be on your merry before I find myself overly compelled to do my civic duty."

"That's the thing," John Bates kept his hands up, "The reason I'm here is because I'm going to turn myself in."

"Why?"

"Heaven and Hell have seen enough bloodshed and it's time I did something about that."

She frowned, "What do you mean by Heaven and Hell?"

"The names of my guns." John Bates struggled to speak, "It's not important. What is important is that I don't know where the nearest Sheriff is and I need the light to get my bearings."

"You swear on what you hold dear you're telling me the truth?"

"Yes ma'am. May God and my dearly departed mother witness it and strike me dead if I'm lying."

"Or I will." She lowered the gun, "What are you doing here?"

"Turning myself in."

"Why?"

"It's a long story."

"We suddenly find ourselves in possession of quite a bit of time." She sat on a barrel, pointing to another one for him. "Make yourself comfortable."

"I usually do that with introductions."

"I already know who you are."

"Yes, but I only know you as Ms. Smith and, if we're about to get as personal with this story-telling as I think we're going to, I should know your first name." John shrugged, "Make us as equal as we can be."

"We're not equals."

"For a moment, then."

"Anna Smith." She rested the rifle over her knees, "Start talking."


	2. Evil Ways

John rubbed his palms on his jeans. "How far back do you want this to go?"

"You're the one who said it was a long story so I'll assume you've got a starting point in mind." Anna tapped her rifle, "I don't like waiting."

"I wouldn't have thought so." He cleared his throat, "Then I guess I'll start at the beginning. My mother and father came over as immigrants and settled for a time in New York City but they didn't take too well to the crowding there."

"Not many did."

"Nor should they. It's a dark and grimy city just crawling with horrible people and even more horrible realities for the immigrants who live there." John shuddered, "They'd tell me stories and I couldn't ever comprehend how so many people choose to live packed together like pigs for slaughter."

"I think you're losing the train of your own thought, Mr. Bates."

"Right," John waved a hand, "I apologize."

"Just continue."

"They moved west and settled in Ohio for a time before making their way with a group traveling west. I was born in the thrashing of winter in Nebraska, place called Winter Quarters."

"Sounds dismal."

"Not as dismal as my mother was when my father died that spring near Wichita." John sighed, "She stayed there because she didn't have the will to go anywhere else without him. My father's grave is one of my only distinct memories from an otherwise brown-colored childhood."

"You visit it often?"

"Every Sunday after Mass." John sighed, "From what my mother always told me my father was a good man and she wanted me to be like him."

"But you aren't?"

"I don't know." John patted a hip, "The guns I wear were his."

"Then you disappointed your mother?"

"I can't say."

"Can't or won't?" Anna adjusted the gun on her knees and noted John's eyes dart toward it a moment before swallowing.

"She died before I ever used my father's guns."

"Did you kill her?"

John shook his head, "I may be a great many things, Ms. Smith, but I'm not one for patricide or matricide. I've committed a great number of sins but not that one."

"Then I guess there's hope for you yet."

"Interested in saving my soul Ms. Smith?"

"I'm interested in not being murdered in my bed if I leave you breathing in my barn." Anna nodded at him, "What happened after your mother's death?"

"I left. I sold what she had and just took my horse. I didn't have any reason to stay."

"And a certain female acquaintance of yours didn't play a part in any of that?"

"If you mean Vera-"

"She's the only person I know with a face on more wanted posters than yourself, Mr. Bates, and I don't fancy her coming here looking for you if you're here because you had a failing out." Anna stopped, "Is she who wounded your leg there?"

John looked down at the haphazard bandage he wrapped over his leg. "It's through-and-through so it just bled like anything but it'll heal."

"Once it's well enough you're gone and you take whatever demons hang off your back with you." Anna stood, "I don't plan to greet the fearsome Vera Bates anywhere near my home."

"And I wouldn't want you to." John held up a hand, going to stand until Anna held her gun in her hands and he sat again. "That's why I'm turning myself in."

"Grown tired of your wife Mr. Bates?"

"First off, she's not my wife."

"She's not your sister."

John huffed, "No, she's not."

"Then there's only the idea that she's your relation by blood or marriage. If she's not a cousin, distant or otherwise, I'll assume that some hapless preacher had to bind you both in unholy matrimony."

"The term she used was 'common law'."

"And excuse to get to know you in a very intimate way I'd imagine."

"I hope you don't imagine too much."

"Please Mr. Bates, don't be worried one lick about my sentimentality or about me being even slightly unaccustomed to what happens in the dark, cold nights with a shared sleeping bag." Anna looked at the ground a moment, "I know what happens when people get lonely at night."

"Then I'll spare you the unnecessary details." John stretched back, "I enjoyed it at first. A kind of frightening rush that always meant we pushed to our next limit. It was passion guided only by greed and lust, nothing more."

"I'm not your priest, Mr. Bates so I don't need your confession."

"But I'll give it anyway." John gave a little laugh. "Maybe the practice'll make it perfect for when I've got to tell the Sheriff why I'm giving myself up."

"I'd stick to the facts and not your rhetorical musings. He's not a man to waste time our Sheriff Carson."

"Then I'll just say that after Vera did something particularly heinous I realized I'd done enough. I'd fallen so far that not even the light of God could've reached me until he sent His angel to pull me back from the brink."

"Did He now?" Anna snorted, setting her gun on the barrel but keeping a hand on it while she leaned back against the wall. "I'd imagine your Damascus experience must've been something."

John nodded, "I watched her burn a town to the ground, setting fire to the church with women and children inside, because they wouldn't give her what she wanted."

"Which town?"

"Kirby."

"That's not very far away Mr. Bates." Anna immediately straightened, pricking her ears to listen, "She could've followed you here."

"If she had a better tracker than me who could take them over the rocky canyon I used and the river that almost drown my horse and I, maybe, but I doubt it." John settled back, "I shot her second-best tracker in my escape."

"But not her?"

"Her horse reared at the wrong moment and I put a bullet in that magnificent animal. The only thing that could be meaner than her but wanted so desperately to be kind."

"You speak about horses like you know them, Mr. Bates."

"Before I met Vera and ran off into the poisoned sunset with her that's what I did. I took care of horses in the Army."

"You left the Army to join up with a mad woman?" John shrugged and Anna rubbed at her eyes, "You're either crazy or stupid and I'm not opposed to suggesting it's both."

"Neither am I, truth be told." John moved his leg and winced, "But if she'd been a better shot she would've gotten me a little higher and then I'd be in more trouble."

"I imagine a great many women'd be sorry too." Anna smiled at his face, "As I said, no need to worry about delicate sensibilities."

"I'll remember that."

"Why she'd burn the town?"

"She planned to rob their bank just after receiving a large cash deposit. Unfortunately for her, I planned on stealing it out from under her."

"Which you did?"

John nodded, "Which I did. She chased me in a rage for it but I evaded her."

"With Heaven and Hell I'd imagine."

"And my rifle." John pointed to the floor, "Mind if I stretch my leg out?"

"You'll need it to leave so no, I don't mind."

John moved to the floor, "She got me in the leg from a distance, one of her luckiest shots since she can't shoot worth a damn with a rifle, and I took a tumble."

"But survived."

"Because of my rifle, my guns, and my horse." John turned to his horse, calmer in her stall. "She didn't leave me behind."

"You left that town behind."

"I didn't know she'd take her rage on me getting away out on a town of innocent people." John sighed, "If I'd known that I would've given my life to shoot that woman in the head."

"And now you're handing yourself over to the Sheriff to do what? Serve your time? Repay your debt?"

"In a way."

Anna narrowed her eyes, "No, you've got something else planned."

John met her gaze, "I plan to draw her out and finish what I didn't at Kirby. I'm going to kill Vera."

Before Anna could respond the door to the barn opened. She turned, hand on her rifle, as the little girl ran to her. She bent when she impacted her legs, and hauled her into her arms. Turning to take her gun back brought her to John's gaze again. His mouth dropped open and Anna shrugged.

"Whatever plans you have, Mr. Bates, I'd suggest you get to them as quickly in the morning as possible. Goodnight."

Anna went out the open barn door and closed it with her shoulder. Her head faced the girl in her arms and she sighed, "I told you to go to sleep little miss. What are you doing awake?"

"I heard noises."

"If you'd been asleep you wouldn't have heard anything." Anna grumbled, adjusting the girl in one arm and her rifle in the other. "It's a miracle every creak of the house doesn't wake you with as lightly as you sleep."

"Who's that man?"

Anna felt his arm point over her shoulder but she did not look back. "He'll be gone by the morning so you just forget you ever saw him."

"But-"

"No buts Lizzie. You don't pay that man or him being here any mind. You focus on getting yourself back to sleep the minute your head hits that pillow." Anna opened the door to their house, muttering to herself, "If it weren't for men and their evil ways."


	3. Bad Man

Anna groaned at the rooster crow but sat up anyway, pulling herself from bed. The smaller bed on the other side of the room held her darker haired girl, playing quietly with her dolls. Smiling to herself, Anna held her arms out to her. "Come here."

Lizzie ran over the floor, jumping into Anna's arms. She kissed Lizzie's forehead, brushing back her hair. "How long've you been up?"

"Long enough to know that man's still here."

"What?" Anna threw off her blanket, setting Lizzie to the side, and craned her head to see out the window. Sure enough John Bates limped across the paddock with the horses, using a bit of rope to get them all to lay down for him. Anna turned back to Lizzie, "Stay here and don't look out the window no matter what."

She grabbed her dressing gown, shoved her feet into the boots by her door, and grabbed her rifle. The banging of the open door alerted John to her and he immediately raised his hands in response to the gun. "Now, hang on-"

"The agreement was you left when morning came."

"You've still got my guns."

"You won't need them to ride twenty minutes west and see yourself right into the nice cell Sheriff Carson's got ready for you without knowing it." Anna jerked her head, "Be on your merry."

"I just wanted to help." John pointed to the horses, "They're not broken."

"I know that."

He looked confused, "Why'd you get unbroken horses?"

"They're a gift."

"Can I ask from whom?"

"It's none of your business." Anna cocked the rifle, "And I wasn't saying it's time for you to leave like a suggestion, Mr. Bates."

"I just wanted t repay your hospitality."

"By ignoring what I asked you?"

"By helping you break your horses."

"What makes you think I can't break them myself?"

He stopped, shrugging, "Nothing but if you've got fifty horses here then you need someone to help you or it'll take you too long."

"Don't presume to know how long it'd take me to break them."

"I'm just trying to be helpful."

Anna fingered the trigger before dropping the gun and uncocking it. "Yes, I think you were."

He let out a sigh before pointing a finger at her, "What is you hadn't thought I was trying to be helpful?"

"Then I'd've shot you and buried you out of my property somewhere Mr. Bates." Anna lifted the rifle to point, "I've got a nice spread here so I'd just pick the most inhospitable spot and leave your body to rot there."

"You're not one to mince words." He pointed toward the house, "I think someone's watching you."

Anna looked over her shoulder, frowning as Lizzie ducked her head back under the window. "Yes, she is."

"Curious one is she?"

"Too much so for her own good." Anna faced John again, nodding her head toward his leg. "How much better is it?"

"The bleeding 's all stopped and there's no permanent damage so I'll be fine. Just give it a few days and it'll heal up about right."

"You'll let it fester and then lose your leg," She rested the rifle on her shoulder, "Come inside and we'll clean and stitch it up before you need a cane or something."

"I think I'd be rather dignified with a cane." John came out of the paddock, dropping the rope to hold the gate closed and then limping after her. "Don't you?"

"I'm trying not to think too much about you Mr. Bates before I come to my senses and change my mind."

"About which part? Turning me in or shooting me."

"Haven't decided." Anna stopped before the door and held a finger in John's face. "Don't tell her who you are or any details. I don't need her spinning tales or having nightmares from anything gruesome you might bring to my table. Who you are and everything else associated with your life you leave when you come through that door. Are we clear?"

"I won't do anything to harm that little girl ma'am."

"Good." Anna opened the door to usher him through. "Find a chair and get your trousers off."

"With her inside?"

"Lizzie's seen worse than your leg and we'll just cut your long underwear high enough for me to clean your wound but leave all your…" Anna appraised him, "Better bits covered."

"You're think they're better?" He grinned and she shrugged.

"I'm still a woman, Mr. Bates." She motioned him inside, "Now please?"

He shuffled inside and she closed the door behind him, setting her rifle there before moving his guns off the table and dumping them onto her bed. His snicker drew her attention and she pulled out his gun, Heaven, and held it up. John swallowed, taking a chair at the table.

Anna put the gun back, pivoting to see Lizzie sitting on her bed, playing quietly with her dolls. She went over to her, sitting next to her. "Are you alright?"

"Who is he?"

Anna narrowed her eyes at John, working his belt loose and sliding his trousers down his legs to expose his stained long johns. "He's someone who needs our help for a bit and he'll help us break the horses."

"Is he a drifter?"

"I don't know." Anna kissed her head, "Help Mummy get her kit ready so we can fix his leg?"

Lizzie nodded, pushing off the bed and running to a corner to gather the necessary things while Anna drew the curtain between the beds and where John sat at the table. She removed her nightgown, changing quickly into her chemise and bloomers then sucking in to tighten her corset. Taking a breath, to ensure she could, Anna nabbed a blouse and loose skirt. Hurrying into them gave her enough time to pull her hair back with a few strokes of the brush to a knot high on her head before turning to Lizzie.

"You did wonderfully." Anna took the things from her, "Now change into your clothes and get your books. I don't want you late when Mrs. Hughes comes to take you to school."

"Yes Mama." Lizzie changed, scrubbing at her face in the wash bin, and assembled her books as Anna drew back the curtain.

For a moment her breath caught, the sight of John with his back to her and wearing nothing but an embarrassed grin holding her attention. Anna quickly shut the curtain again, turning to make sure Lizzie had her back turned, and then slipped through the curtain to face John again with the kit in her hands. He now held his shirt up, face redder than her blouse, and she pushed past him to a trunk in the corner after setting the kit on the table.

"I didn't mean to offend you. I just thought, with the curtain pulled, I could-"

"I'm going to assume you mean that you wanted to change out of your stained and damaged clothing and not that you intended for anything improprietous to happen, Mr. Bates." Anna risked a look at him, digging clothing from the trunk before closing it again.

"Never, ma'am."

"Good." She pushed another chair toward him, snapping her fingers and pointing to it. "Rest your rear on the other chair and your leg on this one. I'll need to have the muscles stretched or this'll never work."

"Right." He sat on the chair, spreading his shirt over his lap as Anna set the clothes in her arms on the table before opening her kit. "You've done this before?"

"Many times." Anna removed a few items before walking to the sink, pumping to get water into the kettle and setting it on the stove. She bent, checking the inside, and shoved a few smaller logs into the space. "I'm a bit of a medicine woman."

"Cure for everything?"

Anna looked over her shoulder at him, smirking a bit. He looked down, face growing even more red if it were possible, and resting his hands over his lap while Anna laughed. "Yes. Even for that."

"I'll… I-"

"Please," Anna stood, walking to the table and threading a needle while digging around for a few packets of things. "I know men, Mr. Bates. You're not the first one to give me that response."

"I do hope I'm a bit more chivalrous than the others."

"Very much so." Anna dropped some herbs in a ceramic bowl, grinding them up. "I've had a few too many individuals who gave me the response you've gotten who weren't nearly as embarrassed by it."

"Did any of them-"

She stopped, "Did any of them what, Mr. Bates?"

He pointed at the curtain, "I heard what she called you."

Anna set the bowl down, shaking it in place to check the contents before returning to the whistling kettle. "What of it?"

"Was her father one of those less than chivalrous men?"

"That's none of your business." Anna poured the water into the ceramic bowl with the leaves and another empty one.

"I didn't mean to pry."

"No, you just succeeded." Anna took a cloth, dipping it in the hot water. "But I guess you told me your story last night and there's a bit of quid pro quo in all this."

"I thought you not shooting me sufficient."

Anna snorted, sitting on a stool near John's stretched out leg, cleaning away the dried blood on both sides of his leg. "I would've thought so too but I guess there's something about you that tugs my heartstrings."

"Really?"

Anna pointed a finger at his brightening face, "It's the kind of pity one feels for a wounded bird, Mr. Bates."

"It's still more than more people feel toward me."

"I'm compassionate toward the downtrodden." Anna pressed the cloth into the wound and he hissed. "It's probably a bit infected."

"Probably." He grabbed his leg as Anna pulled at the skin to see. "Why?"

"To check for infection."

"No," He shook his head, speaking past his gritted teeth. "Why are you compassionate toward the downtrodden?"

"I've been that myself." She felt around the wound, "It isn't too bad, just needs some cleaning."

"Alright."

Anna cleaned the wound and then took the needle and thread. "I hope you've got a strong constitution."

"Strong enough." He held his leg and nodded, "Go on."

Anna started poking through the skin, sowing the wound closed on the top. When she noticed the strain in John's jaw from clamping it closed she nodded her head. "I'll distract you shall I?"

"Please."

"I can out here to get married." Anna kept the stiches small, pinching the skin so as not to pull too tightly and risk tearing it further. "Can you imagine that?"

"Where's the lucky man?"

"He's dead."

"I'm sorry."

Anna shook her head, "Don't be. I'm not."

"Odd way for a woman to speak about her husband."

"He wasn't a good man." Anna tied off the thread on the top, biting through it to give herself the needle and thread to reach the underside of his leg. "He was a financier, named Alex Green, who owned a few of my father's debts in Black Hawk."

"What kind of debts?"

"My father worked in the mining industry and they had one too many accidents in their mines. Working faster than they could safely build."

"Sounds like the story of many."

"It was." Anna moved the chair closer to him, bending his knee to give her more give on the underside of his thigh. "But my father couldn't pay back any of the debts when the mine shut down."

"What'd Green do?"

"He offered to settle my father's debts if I married him."

"What?"

Anna tied off the thread, biting it again, and rested it on the table. She reached for the other bowl, mixing the coagulating contents before spooning it onto both sides of his wound. "Yes, he wanted me as collateral to call in the debts."

"And you married him?"

"I wanted to save my family from destitution."

"Did it work?"

Anna set the bowl back, grabbing a bandage and wrapping over his leg while shaking her head. "No. He reneged on the deal with my father and brought me down here anyway since the marriage was still legal."

"And where's the bastard now?"

"Washed away in a flashflood." Anna tightened the bandage, pulling it up and around John's thigh. "So I hope he's burning in hell now if there's justice in the afterlife like there's not in this one."

"And your little girl?" John nodded his head toward the curtain and Anna stopped, tying off the bandage on his leg.

"She's the product of the worst nights of my life." Anna held his gaze, "The demand of a wife fulfilling her wifely duties."

"He forced you?"

"Not sure any court'd see it as that since I was his wife." Anna pushed herself to stand, "But providence shined on me and I inherited all that was my husbands when he passed from this life to eternal torment."

"Did it save your father?"

"It was too late for him when he decided the way out was a bullet to the brain to end his suffering." Anna gathered her things on the table, "I did save my mother and sister from destitution but they both went back to England to be closer to our family there."

"So you're here all alone?"

"I'm not alone," Anna held the things in her arms, "I've got Lizzie and she's all I need here."

"She's lovely."

Anna smiled at the shape through the curtain, "Yes, she is." Gathering her breath she faced John. "Use those clothes to change. Don't move too fast or you'll pull your stiches and we'll have to do this all over."

He nodded and she turned her back, cleaning her utensils and gathering what she needed to start breakfast. With the clearing of John's throat she pushed the curtain back for Lizzie to come to the table. "Help Mummy with breakfast darling."

"Yes Mummy." Lizzie pushed herself off her bed and Anna moved behind her, fixing her pinafore and hair before patting her bottom.

"Set the table for us and our guest."

"Is that what I am now?" John grinned at her, moving his leg to the stool so Anna could drag the other chair to a better position at the table. She frowned and he crooked a finger for her to lean toward him. "You've seen me naked. Aren't we more than that now?"

Anna narrowed her eyes at him, "I think leaving it at 'guest' for now is best, Mr. Bates. You don't want to see the wrong end of the barrels at my disposal."

"No, I suppose not."

"Good." Anna set a skittle on the stovetop, "Eggs everyone?"


	4. Low Down Dirty Shame

"Mummy! It's Mrs. Hughes's carriage."

"Then you'd best get your things." Anna smiled at the bouncing brown curls hurrying to gather her things while Anna watched from her mending at the table.

When a knock came to the door Anna nodded her head toward the beds, "You'd best sequester yourself away, Mr. Bates. I don't want anyone seeing you."

He limped toward the alcove, dodging Lizzie's speedy exit, and drew the curtain to hide himself from view. Ana stood, straightening a side as a steady knock echoed through the wood of the door. In a few steps she was across the boards and pulling the door open to smile at the woman there. "She's more than ready for you Mrs. Hughes."

"I'm a bit early so I do hope it's no trouble." Mrs. Hughes smiled, "How's she this morning?"

"As wonderful as ever." Anna bent to kiss Lizzie's cheeks as the girl stopped by the door, "You remember to be good for Mrs. Hughes, yes?"

"Yes Mummy." Lizzie kissed her mother before running for the wagon.

"She's one of the best and most well behaved, Anna. She does you credit."

"I hope so Mrs. Hughes." Anna waved to Lizzie, "I hope so."

Once Lizzie climbed aboard the wagon and Mrs. Hughes snapped the reins for the horses to turn out of the yard Anna turned back to the interior of the house, focusing on the curtain, "You can come out now Mr. Bates."

He pushed the separating curtain back, "Thank you, for not giving me away."

"You're doing me a good turn, Mr. Bates." Anna collected the dishes off the table, "That deserves my gratitude, which is what this is."

"I don't know how much good I'll be to you as I am." He tapped his bandaged leg. "Until it fully heals I shouldn't risk tearing it open again by riding."

"I'm well aware of how the body heals and what it needs, Mr. Bates." Anna scraped any of the spare food into a pail before rinsing the dishes in her makeshift sink. "I'm well versed in how to repair the body."

"Then how will I help?"

"I assume you can still teach, with your leg as it is." Anna dried her hands, leaving the dishes to drip dry next to the sink before ducking into the alcove to retrieve his guns from under her bed. "Giving me instructions can't be that difficult."

"It's not but breaking horses is about more than instructions."

"I'm a quick learner." Anna pulled his gun belt from the cupboard, holding it out to him. "I hope this convinces you that I'm putting my trust in you for this."

John went to take them but withdrew his hand. "I feel like this is a test."

"I'm not so cruel, Mr. Bates." Anna nodded toward them. "It'd be wrong of me to keep these from you."

"Thank you." He took the belt, putting it on with such speed one could say it was more instinct than thought. His fingers edged over the comfortable leather before looking back at her, "What about my rifle?"

"You've only got the two hands and you won't need it if I have mine." Anna knotted her hair back into a secure braid before grabbing her hat and rifle. "We've somewhere to be I believe."

He grinned, motioning her toward the door, "Lead the way Ms. Smith."

They walked to the paddock, Anna pulling the gate open for John to enter first. Pulling the gate shut she latched it and nodded for him to open the gate at the other end. She pulled the looped rope off a post and tossed it to him.

"You'd best get the ones you want to start with."

He spoke, focused on the rope he was tying as he needed, "Have you done this before? You were vague in your answer this morning."

"I've done it a few times. Mostly with a gentler load than this lot but I've done it." Anna held her rifle in her hands, "Why do you ask?"

"Because if it was your first time I'd need to demonstrate and we both know I'm in no condition to do that."

"No you're not."

"Then I'll assume you're confident enough to climb on an unbroken horse."

Anna rested her rifle against one of the posts of the paddock, taking the rope from his hands. "Confident enough to do it with your help."

"I'm flattered you think I can help you."

"It's more a partnership of necessity, Mr. Bates." Anna walked slowly into the larger enclosure, eyeing a few of the horses. "Though I'm still curious why you chose the few you did this morning. The ones you had laying down in there."

"You can tell a lot about a horse based on how it reacts to the others around it." John pointed to one of the closer ones, "He bit at least three others this morning so he's got a temper but he'll go anywhere those two fillies go and they follow that mare."

"Lead her and I get the others to follow?"

John nodded, "Horses aren't a pack like wolves are but they still follow group dynamics that people do."

"Is that what led you to Vera?" Anna worked the rope in her hand, flicking it at the mare's legs to get her to move toward the paddock.

"I guess the Army broke me in just the right way that I succumbed to the influence of a dominant personality." John pointed to a smaller horse standing near the first he noted. "I was him."

"How so?"

"Just lead her into the paddock and you'll see."

Anna guided the mare into the smaller space, clicking her tongue at the horse while speaking calmly to it. She obeyed, snorting a bit and ruffling her head as she accustomed herself to the space. Just as John said the fillies followed, the biting stallion close behind them, with the last horse he mentioned pulling in a sulking last. John closed the gate, stepping close to the fence to give the five horses room to spread and acclimate to their new surroundings.

Anna pointed to the skulking horse. "You followed where she led?"

"I followed what I thought was a leader hoping to change the world." John limped closer to Anna, resting back against the fence and stretched out his leg. "I joined the Army young, as a way to live. I went anywhere they told me to and by the time I finished my service I didn't have anything left of myself. I was lost."

"Or you just never found yourself to begin with."

"You sound like one who speaks from experience."

Anna shrugged, "I know a bit of what it's like to never have the opportunity to really discover who you are. To never have the chance to discover what you want because you've never had the opportunity to think about it."

"And now?" The confusion must have shown on her face because John explained. "You own all of what I can see, I assume, and you live alone with a young daughter on this spread. A woman who doesn't know what she wants wouldn't survive that kind of pressure to produce. Not in the unforgiving climate that defines men by the crags and creases in their face from the weathering of sun and wind."

"You're right, I do know now." Anna walked the length of the paddock, retrieving her rifle to drop it outside the paddock. "I want to build a life for my daughter and I."

"Here?"

"No." Anna shook her head, waving a hand at the land around them. "I don't want to keep all this."

"Then why bother with it?"

"Because the Crawleys, who want to buy this land to extend their interests, won't be back from the East for another week and that's when the deal finalizes."

"You're selling up?"

"As you said, Mr. Bates, I'm a woman fighting for my life out here. I've a daughter to think about and I've no interest in staying around to see if I can scratch a living out on rocks and dirt." Anna secured the rope in her hands, turning to the mare. "To business then."

They spent the whole day breaking the five horses. With the others fending for themselves in the larger enclosure Anna and John worked their first group until any of the five could take Anna on their back without a saddle. She slipped from the last horse, allowing him to follow the others to a corner, and rubbed at her backside.

"Sore?" Anna raised an eyebrow at John and he held up his hands, "I was asking in concern."

"Why? Do you have a way to rub the soreness out of one's ass?"

"I do but you'd think I was propositioning you and seeing as I'm already on tenterhooks I'd rather stay on your good side."

"Excellent choice Mr. Bates." Anna looked up at the sound of a wagon and cursed, "They're back already."

"Do you want me to run to the barn?"

"You'd never make it and then I'd look suspiciously guilty." Anna squinted, pulling her hat back to sigh, "And Mrs. Hughes brought her husband."

"Is that bad?"

"Mrs. Hughes is the school teacher in town and Sheriff Carson is her husband."

John shrugged, "I did state my initial intention was to turn myself in."

"You've not helped me break the other horses."

"You did alright with the ones we handled today."

"You told me which ones to choose." Anna opened the door, grabbing her rifle from the ground and dropping the rope after John exited as well. "Guess I'm on my own from here on out."

"It would appear that way." John untied the strings from his thighs and unbuckled his gun belt, handing it over to Anna.

She took it, frowning, "Why are you handing me this?"

"Because I won't need it in the cell Sheriff Carson's got for me." John winked, "You said as much yourself."

"Then give them to him."

"But you could sell them. The famous guns of outlaw John Bates would fetch you a decent price and then you and Lizzie could take yourselves away from here. Maybe even all the way back to England."

"I doubt England would take kindly to a westernized widow and her feral daughter."

"I may've only shared breakfast with her, and I admit she's got a mouth faster than any train I've ever seen, but she's far from feral."

Anna narrowed her eyes at John, ignoring the wagon stopped just in front of her porch. "Why are you helping me?"

"Because you could've shot me. You should've left me to die from my wounds. And nothing but a Samaritan instinct told you to give me any kind of repair." John tipped his hat to her, "You've already done me more turns than I deserve and I won't forget them."

Anna went to speak but a gruff bass voice interrupted her thoughts and she turned to greet the man with severe eyebrows and a prominent nose that he used to look down on them. "Sheriff Carson, what a lovely surprise to have you here."

"I thought I should look in when Ms. Elizabeth mentioned to Mrs. Hughes that you had a man staying with you."

"She would say that." Anna rested her rifle against the fence, draping the gun belt over the nearest beam in the fence before using both her hands to motion to John. "This is John Bates."

If it had been possible, or anatomically probable, Anna was sure Sheriff Carson's head would have exploded at the mention of John's name. He blustered a moment, struggling for words as Mrs. Hughes brought Lizzie over to her mother. Anna bent, picking the girl up and brushing some curls from her eyes.

Lizzie hung her head, "Was I not supposed to tell?"

"It's alright." John put a hand toward her, soothing her worries, "I needed to meet Sheriff Carson anyway and you just gave us an introduction. I'm glad I could count on you to tell him about me."

"Ms. Smith," Anna turned to Sheriff Carson, "Do you have any idea the kind of man you've been harboring in your home?"

"I know exactly who I allowed to sleep in my barn last night." Anna specified, noting the slight ease in Sheriff Carson's shoulders. "I also know that I helped repair his injury and he did me a good turn as repayment for that."

"One good deed doesn't wipe out a lifetime of wicked and immoral behavior."

"It also doesn't mean she should've lynched him in her own bar, Mr. Carson." Mrs. Hughes chided, putting out a hand to John, "From what Lizzie tells me you're a gentle soul with some amusing stories to tell."

"Gentle soul?" Sheriff Carson continued but Mrs. Hughes ignored him.

"I'm sure you just lost your way on the path somewhere."

"I lost a great many things, Mrs. Hughes." John shook her hand and turned to Sheriff Carson. "As it happens, I was under an agreement with Ms. Smith to turn myself in this morning but once she fixed my leg I wasn't in any condition to ride."

"And I'm sure that's what you told Ms. Smith."

"That's the truth, Sheriff." Anna scowled, holding Lizzie closer. "I trust John Bates was nothing but honest with me."

"Just like he was nothing but honest with those he robbed and killed from Wichita to Santa Fe."

"Be that as it may," Anna held up a hand to stop Sheriff Carson's continuing tirade. "He's been honest with me so far and I won't besmirch what little honor he has by implying he meant to hoodwink me."

"Sheriff Carson," John held out his wrists, "I present myself for arrest."

Sheriff Carson huffed a moment before reaching into the wagon to pull out some rope. He took a moment to tie it over John's wrists and then helped him into the back of the wagon. Anna put a hand on Sheriff Carson's arm, stopping him a moment.

"I know this is a it awkward for you, Sheriff, but he was honest with me. I gave him a bed in my barn for the night and that's all. He offered me his help with my horses."

"I trust your word, Ms. Smith, but I don't trust a known outlaw free in my town." Sheriff Carson helped Mrs. Hughes onto the seat and Lizzie waved goodbye to her. "He'll be held in town until we can get a Marshall in from Kansas."

Anna nodded, adjusting Lizzie on her hip, and turned to John. "Thank you, for your help."

"It was my pleasure, Ms. Smith." He pointed his tied hands toward the guns. "Use those to make yourself a better life Ms. Smith, with my compliments and blessings."

"Not sure I can do much with your blessings, Mr. Bates, but I'll take the compliments all the same."

He smiled at her as the wagon jolted, pulling him about as Sheriff Carson and Mrs. Hughes drove toward town. Anna frowned, starting when Lizzie wrapped her arms around her neck. With a smile she turned toward Lizzie, brushing back some of her hair.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No." Anna shook her head, reaching down to grab the gun belt. "It's just a shame Lizzie, nothing more than that."

"What'll happen to him?"

"Justice, I think." Anna headed toward the house. "This is what happens."

"Is he a bad man?"

"No one's just a bad man but he's not entirely a good man either."

"But he was good to us."

"Yes he was." Anna shook her head, holding the gun belt. "He was good to us."


	5. The Preacher's Gun

Anna picked herself up out of the dirt, brushing at her skirt and wincing when she adjusted her arm to look at the gash beading blood. She gathered the rope from the ground, looping it up and shooting a scowl at the horse huffing at the other side of the pen. Turning to the gate she noted Lizzie there, arms over the lowest bar, and squinting from under her borrowed hat.

"I think he did it better."

"I think so too." Anna climbed over the gate to join her, leaving the looped rope on the side and lifting Lizzie with the arm not dotting her ripped shirt with blood. "But he's currently in Sheriff Carson's holding cell and can't help us."

"We could ask the Crawleys for help." Lizzie suggested as they entered the house and Anna set her back down.

"I'm sure they've got other things to do." Anna caught sight of John's guns, hanging on the back of the rocking chair. "And we keep telling everyone we can do it on our own."

"But if we don't have to do it on our own?" Lizzie pressed and Anna reached out to grab the girl, tickling at her.

"You're far too smart for your own good." Lizzie squealed and worked herself loose from Anna's grip as the sound of a cart drawing up to the house alerted them. Anna peeked out the window and snorted, "What do you know Lizzie, speak their name and they shall appear."

A moment later Anna answered the knock on her door, sleeve pulled up to press a cloth to her arm and clean the blood, and smiled at the two dark-haired individuals standing there. The shorter of the two immediately stepped forward to address Anna's arm while the other walked to where Lizzie hid under the table and jumped down. The shriek of joy following the pretend growl had Lizzie darting for the door only to be caught in the arms of the taller woman.

"You're not fast enough to escape your Aunt Mary yet." She kissed Lizzie's curls before settling in a seat with Lizzie on her lap. "I hear you helped catch a very dangerous man."

"How long did it take for that wildfire to sweep the town?" Anna managed to settle in a chair while the other woman continued to examine the scrape.

"Only as long as it took Carson to guide him from their cart right into the Sheriff's office." Mary set to rocking in the chair, tapping the guns behind her before returning to stroking Lizzie's hair. "But they were mum about it."

"Then how'd you know to come here?"

Mary pointed at the other woman, "Sybil heard Lizzie telling Mrs. Hughes about the man at your ranch and put two and two together."

Sybil cringed and turned to Anna, "I didn't tell a soul."

"I'm grateful you came all the same but Sheriff Carson took Mr. Bates away from her yesterday."

"And you apparently had him here for a day without telling anyone." Mary turned to Lizzie, "Was your Mummy going to keep him a secret?"

"He was helping her with the horses."

Mary frowned, facing Anna, "Why didn't you ask me?"

"She says you would've been too busy." Lizzie spoke and then cowed a bit when Anna turned a mother-stare on her.

"Thank you, Ms. Elizabeth." Anna directed her attentions to Mary, "I was going to do it myself but then Mr. Bates offered his help in return for a bit of medical care and some food."

"Your work was excellent." Sybil noted, finishing her attentions to Anna's arm. "I only had to change the bandage and everything else was wonderful work."

"I do have my uses." Anna examined her arm, "Though I think you did a better job here than I could've."

"It was a scrape, nothing more."

"Lizzie," Mary set the girl on the floor, "Would you show your Aunt Sybil your dolls for a moment while I speak with your Mummy?"

Lizzie took Sybil's hand, pulling the woman with her toward her bed while Mary motioned for Anna to follow her outside. Anna unrolled her sleeve, buttoning the cuff even though the tear in the fabric had it billowing slightly when they reached the porch and the wind picked up slightly. Mary leaned around to look in the window before pointing at the horses.

"Are you alright with them?"

"I'm fine." Anna shrugged, "We broke five yesterday but I guess I can't read their relationships like he can so today was a little more difficult than I anticipated."

"Why not ask for my help? Or at least Matthew's. It's not like we wouldn't come over to help you. And George loves playing with Lizzie."

"It's not that." Anna sighed, "I don't want to be a burden on your family and just give your father the excuse he needs to constantly press me to sell this all to him."

"You could make a profit on it."

"Having this place is security, Mary. It's something I have that I won't lose."

"But Anna," Mary chewed her lip, "You're already losing it."

"I'm fine."

"You invited a known outlaw and gunman to stay for dinner."

"Technically he only had breakfast with us."

Mary rubbed at her eyes, "Why are you always so difficult?"

"Because I'm made for this and that's what the land does. It weathers your skin and your soul." Anna squinted out at her plot. "This is my land and I won't lose it to anyone. I won't squander that independence."

"What about Lizzie?"

"What about her?"

"You're going to keep that little girl here watching her mother struggle and scrape for her living in the dust and off the rocks?"

Anna rolled her shoulders back, "I watched my mother do it and I'm none the worse for it."

"Anna I-"

"Not all of us were born in the lap of luxury and can surrender to that life." Anna sighed, "I'll be fine and so will Lizzie. We'll manage as we always have and we might even be better than that one day."

Mary opened her hands in surrender, "Fine. If you think you can do it then…"

"I can." Anna risked a look inside to see Sybil and Lizzie playing with the dolls. "How's Edith?"

"Lady Godiva?" Mary snorted, "Still riding around town naked or as close as she can get until Papa gets her back inside."

"Is she still mourning him?"

"Yes and it's bloody irritating that she can wail and sob her way over town on that horse for a man who wasn't even family. He had his own wife for heaven sakes but she's still sobbing for him like she lost her soul." Mary groaned, "If there was one thing I wish it's that our newspaper editor didn't get the damn-fool idea of chasing a story by chasing down Vera Bates."

Anna laughed, "I guess we all flirt with danger."

"The only danger Edith is in, right now, is of giving my father a heart attack or exposure." Mary pulled out a pocket watch. "I'd best get on before Matthew thinks I got lost out here."

"It's a possibility."

"Not since he taught me how to read a compass." Mary tapped on the window and jerked her head to signal Sybil. "But, in all compassion Anna, please let us help you if you need it."

"I will." Anna hugged Mary and then Sybil as they left her porch.

"And you're still invited to Sunday dinner." Mary called, climbing to the driver's seat of the buggy. "George'll be gutted if you don't come."

"Lizzie wouldn't miss it for the world." Anna waved them away before looking down at Lizzie. "I think it's bath time for us. What do you think?"

"Um…" Lizzie edged a step away. "No!"

She pelted away, legs flying to the side, and Anna gave chase around the house, grabbing her about the waist and lathering her in kisses as the little girl tried to squirm away. "I think it's time for one."

They settled in for the night, Lizzie falling asleep as Anna read to her. Leaning over the head of the sleeping girl to set the book to the side, Anna stroked her hair back as she settled close to her. Watching her breathe, listening to her tiny snorts, and enduring her shuffles that occasionally put a sharp elbow or knee into Anna's sides had Anna contemplating long into the night.

When she finally blew out the candle it had burned low into its pool of wax and the last thing Anna saw was the gun belt slung over the back of the chair.

They woke the next morning, Anna fixing Lizzie's hair before her own, and leading the two of them out to the barn. Anna saddled her horse and lifted Lizzie into the seat before leading the horse to the side. She turned to the other horse, John's horse, and considered it a moment before saddling it too.

Tying the lead to her saddle, and slipping her rifle into the holster on her saddle, Anna mounted behind Lizzie. Her arms wrapped around her daughter's waist to hold her in place and kicked the horse to a trot. They set their direction for town and when Anna was sure the other horse had enough slack she galloped.

The small schoolhouse used the first floor of a closed hotel and Anna dismounted before reaching up for Lizzie. As she set her on the ground they heard the voice of Mrs. Hughes and both mother and daughter smiled at her. Mrs. Hughes flustered a moment, speaking to Anna as she greeted Lizzie.

"I could've come and got her this morning Anna. There wasn't a need to come all the way here."

"Thunder needed a stretch of his legs and I haven't been to town in a stretch." Anna snuck a glance toward the Sheriff's office. "Is Sheriff Carson in today?"

"No, he's gone to send word for the Marshall about that Mr. Bates." Mrs. Hughes shivered, "It's a terrible thing when you don't know if it's worse to have an outlaw in your cells or to have to hand him over to the Marshalls."

"Welcome to the west." Anna patted Thunder, "Then who's manning the office?"

"Alfred, the new deputy."

"Oh," Anna frowned, "He's the gangly ginger yes?"

"Yes," Mrs. Hughes sighed, "He's too sweet a soul for it all but he's earnest and I think Mr. Carson's taken quite a shine to him."

"I could see it." Anna took the lead for Thunder. "Well, I'll be off."

"Do you want me to bring Lizzie back at the end of the day?"

"I think I'll need you too. I might be busy breaking in my horses." Anna tightened her hold on the lead and pointed at Lizzie, "And you'll mind Mrs. Hughes yes?"

"I always do."

"Good girl," Anna crouched, "Give Mummy a kiss."

They exchanged kisses before Lizzie ran into the room. Mrs. Hughes bid Anna goodbye and followed the little girl. Anna shot another look at the Sheriff's office before turning up the street to the church.

As she tied up her horse another one rode up, the rider dropping to the ground loud enough to startle Anna. She put a hand over her heart and the lanky stranger held out a hand. "I'm so sorry, that was rude of me."

"You did scare me half to death." She blew out a breath before frowning at him. "You come here often?"

"Why'd you ask?"

"I've not seen you before but then I've not been the most active of church goers of late so perhaps I missed something."

"I'd say so." The man tipped his black hat to her before extending his hand. "Henry Talbot, I'm the new pastor."

"You're the Preacher here?"

"I am." He stood tall, "Might I have the pleasure of your name?"

"Anna Smith. I own a ranch a few miles outside of town."

He frowned a moment before nodding, "You're the mother of that little firecracker, Lizzie?"

"You've already met her?"

Talbot grinned, "I think she rather met me."

"She didn't say anything about it."

"I didn't see the point in her mentioning anything about it when it didn't really matter." Talbot looked around before lowering his voice, "Especially since I overheard it and she didn't really recognize that I was there."

Anna scowled, "This wouldn't have anything to do with the man taking up space in Sheriff Carson's holding cell would it?"

"It might've done." Talbot gestured toward the office. "He's a known criminal."

"Aren't you supposed to be advocating for saving his soul or something?"

"Yes but I don't think his soul needs saving." Anna raised her eyebrows and Talbot hurried to explain himself. "I've met John Bates on a number of occasions and I find myself hard pressed to believe the bad reputation he's made for himself."

"Friend of his are you?"

"Fought him more than a few times." Talbot pulled back on his black coat and Anna noted the revolvers at his waist. "Being a preacher wasn't the first profession I chose."

"Did a brush with death turn you to God, Mr. Talbot?"

"A brush with John Bates did." Talbot let his coat drop. "I was a hired man for a group of cattle drivers and I'd seen the posters for John Bates, like anyone, but when I confronted him I couldn't kill him."

"Why not?"

"Because he didn't kill me." Talbot sighed, "People want to paint someone like that as all black when they're just as complicated as anyone else."

"I think I understand what you mean."

"It's a shame our system is so unforgiving." Talbot shrugged, "Not saying the man's a misunderstood saint but I don't think he's a lost sinner either."

"Since we're all sinners, is that it?"

"I'd think so." Talbot shook her hand, "I do hope to see you in church this Sunday Ms. Smith and I hope you bring your daughter. I have a feeling the boring sermons won't be with her there."

Anna smiled at him, "If you're sermons are as forgiving as this conversation I can already see myself enjoying church more than I did with Mr. Travis."

"Yes," Talbot winced, "That older generation and their hellfire and damnation."

"I was thinking more about their droning voices."

"Those too." Talbot tipped his hat, "Ms. Smith."

Anna watched him go inside the church and waited a moment. Then she untied the leads to her horse and pulled him outside the Sheriff's office. Tying Thunder's lead loosely to the crossbeam, she drew her rifle from the holster on her saddle. One look about told her the only person out this early was a white horse bearing a naked woman but Anna ignored her the way the woman ignored everyone else.

Without a knock she entered the Sheriff's office and cocked the rifle into her shoulder. The gangly ginger sitting at the desk jumped, trying to find his feet as Anna raised the rifle. He put his hands up, the keys falling from his trembling fingers to hit the floor.

"It's Alfred, right?"

He nodded and Anna noted John sitting up from where he lay on the cot. She ignored his raised eyebrows and nodded toward the cell. "I need you to unlock that cell and give that man over to my custody."

"I can't do that ma'am."

"You can since you've got the keys."

"Sheriff's coming back for him."

"And when the Sheriff's back he can have him but I need Mr. Bates there to help me with something." Anna shrugged, "Think of it like putting a convict on a chain gang."

"I can't do-"

"Alfred," Anna aimed the rifle, "I don't want to shoot you but if you ask Mr. Bates there you'll know that I don't miss. Even better is that this distance isn't going to make that an option in the slightest."

"Deputy?" Alfred turned to when John beckoned him over. "She took a chunk out of my saddle in the dark from a hundred feet. I'd do what she says."

"But you're an outlaw, Mr. Bates." Alfred motioned toward Anna and the gun. "Even with that gun I know-"

"I give you my word of honor that Ms. Smith here just needs my help breaking some horses and she'll have me back the moment she's boarding tamer animals." John pointed at Anna, "She doesn't want to keep me anymore than I want to stay there. I came here to turn myself in and that's what I'll do."

"But you're leaving."

"And I'll turn myself in once I'm done trying to do a good deed." John shrugged, "Would you deny me the chance to try and repair some of the damage I've done in the world?"

Alfred frowned, "I wouldn't want to stand in the way of that."

"Then use those keys and let me out to help her."

With another moment of contemplation passing over his face scrunched in confusion, Alfred retrieved the keys from the floor and unlocked the cell. John clapped him on the shoulder and walked to where Anna still held the rifle. Alfred held the keys in his hand and Anna lowered the rifle.

"I'll bring him back when I'm done Alfred. I promise."

"How'd you know he won't run?"

"Because he couldn't get far enough before I'd shoot him dead myself." Anna nodded at Alfred, "You have a good day now."

She headed for the door, listening as John bid Alfred goodbye, and went to the horses. Uncocking her rifle, Anna slid it back into the holster and mounted her horse. John, limping slightly, followed her and mounted his own horse.

"He's a good man. Not quite ready for the assignment but willing."

"He's sweet but impressionable." Anna gathered her reins, "And I do hope you know I was being serious. This isn't a jailbreak. This is very self-serving."

"I'll assume it's you acting in the interest of your daughter and that's selfless enough for me." John glanced toward the church and Anna followed his gaze to see Talbot standing there. "I think I know that man."

"He certainly knows you." Anna turned to John, "Are you ready?"

"On one condition."

"Excuse me?" Anna pointed at the Sheriff's office, "Do you want to go back to that holding cell?"

"No but it's a tit for tat kind of arrangement." He sidled up next to her. "If I help you break your horses then you'll help me do something."

"And what's that?"

"I need you to get out of this town." John shook his head at it all. "If Vera gets word I'm here then it's all over and I don't want you or Lizzie part of the havoc she'll wreck over this town."

"We'll burn that bridge when we cross it, Mr. Bates. For now," Anna sat up in her saddle, "We've got horses to break."


	6. Carry Me Back Home

Wiping at her forehead, Anna handed over the canteen and John swigged from it. "I think that's the last of them unless you've got one or two hidden away."

"That's it." Anna pulled the brand from the water bucket, holding it up, "I've got a mark on this for every one of those horses. All fifty of them."

"Then it seems my work here is done." John sighed, handing back the canteen. "And it's been a sincere pleasure Ms. Smith."

"That is has Mr. Bates." Anna pulled the gloves off her fingers, tucking them into her belt. "Why didn't you do this for a living?"

"Break horses?"

Anna nodded, "Robert Crawley's got himself a nice ranch with a spread that he needs managed and horses that need breaking. You could always do something like that."

"Robert Crawley," John paused, "The oil barron?"

"You've heard of him?"

"I know him." John shrugged up a shoulder, "Or I did, about ten years ago. We served in the Army together. I was his batman."

"You didn't say, when I mentioned the Crawleys the first time."

"I didn't know you meant Robert Crawley." John stopped, shaking a finger at her, "And you told me you planned on selling to the Crawleys."

"I do."

"Then why'd you tell Mary Crawley you weren't selling?"

Anna frowned, "You've been talking to Lizzie behind my back haven't you?"

"She chatters at me when I'm feeding the horses." John smiled, "So why tell me you're hanging onto the land until the Crawleys get back and finalizing the deal with them but tell Mary Crawley you're not selling?"

"I find a secret is best kept between one person, don't you?"

"But Robert Crawley knows your secret."

"What Robert Crawley knows is that the mine in town collapsed last year and he lost a significant investment when the town lost a lot of men and boys." Anna took a deep breath, "There's oil on this land and he's offered me fifty percent profits on whatever he pumps free for rights to take the land."

"You'd trust him to fulfill on that promise?"

"Wouldn't you?"

John waved a hand, "I'd trust Robert Crawley to want to do the right thing by people but I don't trust those who work with him."

"Why'd you say that?"

"In the Army I always had the feeling that he had a bigger heart than a brain sometimes. He'd trust people a lot farther than he could throw them and not always to his benefit."

"We've all got our flaws so we can be glad that's the only one he's got." Anna picked up the water bucket, adjusting it so the brand fell on her shoulder. "And they come back tomorrow so I'd expect them to make their way over here with the papers."

"I thought they were visiting family."

"Doesn't mean they didn't have time to visit a lawyer and draw up the papers for me to sign over my deed." Anna blinked, setting the water barrel down as John closed the paddock, and adjusted her hat before sighing. "Damn."

"What?" John turned, noting the dust cloud. "Sheriff Carson back already to get me?"

"He won't be back for another week or more getting the Marshall. No," Anna pulled her rifle off the post, checking the chamber before holding it under her shoulder. "It's people from town."

"Are they usually that antagonistic?"

"We're not overly friendly, for various reasons." Anna cocked the rifle as a cart with a guard of mounted women stopped in front of them. "Afternoon ladies. I hope you'll take that as the only bit of politeness I'll be giving until you turn yourselves around and ride on out of here."

"In other circumstances we would." Mrs. Hughes pointed at John, "But he's got to go back into his cell Anna. He's a wanted criminal."

"I know what he is and he's here helping me break these horses."

"They look broken to me." One of the two redheads on horseback leaned on her saddle horn. "If you're all done with him then he can take the space right in the back of this cart and we'll leave you be."

"I don't think so Ethel Parks." Anna held her rifle like she could bring it up at any moment. "He's my guest and I'll treat him like that until the Marshall arrives."

"We can't risk him being around normal folk, Anna." Another woman spoke, bringing her horse in front of Ethel's, glaring the other woman away. "We've got to think of our children. Freddie's in the same class as Lizzie. What if he hurts him?"

"I wouldn't hurt children." John stepped forward but Anna put a hand out to stop him.

"Jane's just worried about the state of a town where most of the men are buried in a mass grave." Anna nodded at her and the rest of the women. "Ladies, much as appreciate this impromptu kangaroo court you've managed to assemble in a short amount of time, I'm going to refuse you."

"He's dangerous, Anna."

"He's under my protection, Gwen." Anna brought up the rifle, "And I'll remind you all that I don't miss at this range."

"I think we're getting ahead of ourselves." Mrs. Hughes stood up, holding her hands out to the women on horseback that all had their guns drawn on Anna and John. "We're just thinking of the safety of this town."

"Mr. Bates here has been at my ranch for the last five days." Anna waited, "And your children and your establishments are running just as they were before. Safely and with no foul play. He's not a danger to us and he's of more use out here with me than locked in that cell with only Alfred keeping watch over him."

"Anna-" Mrs. Hughes went to speak but Gwen cut in.

"If he's been helping you with those horses then give us a deal for them."

"I'll sell the lot to anyone who wants them."

"You've got fifty and we've got women in town who need horses. Cart horses, carriage horses, and plow horses."

Anna lowered her gun, "They can do all that. Just pick the ones you want."

"How soon could we get them?" Jane holstered her pistol and Anna shrugged.

"Mr. Bates here has promised to take up residence in his cell again. He'll help me ride them into town and you can all watch justice served on him if you like."

"When's that?"

"Sheriff's due back soon." Anna watched the women's faces. "I could bring him in then."

"You know we've got to use those horses now, before planting season gets much closer." Mrs. Hughes sat back down, taking the reins of her cart. "Delay too long and those women aren't going to get the help they need."

"Then I suggest you leave us to manage the horses we've got so you can get your money together to buy them." Anna pointed to the road behind them, "Now be on your merry and we'll see you all soon."

"You're making a mistake Anna."

Anna snorted, "The day I ask you to comment on my mistakes, Ethel, I'd try to take a moment to remember your own first."

Ethel glared at her, kicking her horse to the lead the others away. Anna uncocked her rifle and set it to the side, picking up the bucket of water as Lizzie came out of the house. "Elizabeth Smith I hope you've finished your letters and sums."

"Yes Mummy." Lizzie ran to her side, bouncing up and down as she pointed at John. "Can Mr. Bates help me ride one of the horses?"

Anna looked over her shoulder, "If you don't mind?"

"It'd be my pleasure." John extended a hand to Lizzie and she squealed before running to him.

Anna took the bucket back into the barn, dumping the water into a larger barrel and removing the brand to put it with the other tools hanging near the door. Her eyes caught sight of John helping Lizzie into a saddle before mounting behind her. She leaned on the door and watched John teach Lizzie how to hold the reins, guiding the horse with his knees into the larger of the two paddocks, and taking them around in circles.

Smiling to herself she finished in the barn and went to collect her rifle from the edge of the gate. Lizzie caught her eye, beaming almost brightly enough to split her face in half, and Anna returned it with a wave. John caught part of the smile and Anna quickly swallowed it back, hurrying inside the house.

Dusk had almost turned completely to evening when Anna called them to supper. John dismounted as Anna approached and handed Lizzie to her over the gate. Lizzie immediately dropped from her mother's arms, sprinting inside, and Anna laughed before turning almost into John.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be." He unbuckled the saddle and Anna moved to help release the bridle from the horse's mouth before opening the gate for it to return to the rest of the herd. "I'm grateful to be of help."

"And you've been more than true to your word." Anna manipulated the bridle in her grip. "I just wish that I could do something more for you."

"You've given me your sofa by the fire, food, and a place to breathe fresh air before I'm not breathing anymore." John got the saddle over his shoulder and walked in step with her to the barn, his limp fading but still gimping him slightly. "It's more than I deserve. It's more than I could've hoped for and I've never been more grateful to anyone than I am to you."

"It's hard for me to admit but I could say the same about you, Mr. Bates." Anna hung the bridle as John set the saddle with the others. "I don't want to take you back to town."

"I've got to allow justice to serve its sentence on me."

"I understand that-"

John shook a finger at her, "I thought you were all for my departure as soon as I could stand Ms. Smith."

"I was, I admit, but…" Anna dropped her hands, "I've come to depend on you Mr. Bates and I don't want to see you go."

"You won't need me once you sell this place to the Crawleys and take Lizzie east." John gestured in that direction. "You'll find a new life somewhere else and raise your daughter where life is easier than it is here."

Anna shook her head, "And I thought I wanted all that but she belongs here. Lizzie's a part of this place, almost as much as I am, and we've really nowhere to go."

"I thought you had a mother and family back in England."

"I do but I told you, my feral child doesn't belong there." Anna knocked on the side of the barn with her hand, "And neither do I."

"It's gotten into your bones here then?"

"I guess you can't help it." Anna's fingers played over the wood, catching her focus a moment as she traced the grain there. "It weathers you, wears you down, and seeps into you when you sleep."

"The only other place I could ever see myself, after riding hither and yon over the brush and desert is something just as sweeping and grand."

"Where's that?"

"The ocean." John smiled, motioning with his hands as if he could paint the picture for her. "I've heard people tell about how the blue stretches on forever and when you look at it you think you could just fall off the edge of the world."

"Sounds beautiful."

"It's a dream." John sighed, "If I hadn't let my pride get the better of me I would've gone there."

"To the ocean?"

John nodded, "To the largest ocean in the world. I would've stood on the edge of it and then sailed away."

"Sounds like a wonderful dream."

"Maybe in another life." John took a step toward the door before he noticed Anna had not moved. "Are you coming?"

"I-" She swallowed, "I'm just… I'm ever so sorry you're going."

"It's the way it is."

"It's the way it was." Anna pointed to the saddle. "You could take any of those horses and that saddle and be gone in ten minutes. You could be to California and the ocean and on a ship within a week and leave all this behind."

"And leave you behind? Leave Vera to continue terrorizing towns? Leave my sins behind?"

"We all deserve a chance to start anew."

"Not everyone does."

"You do." Anna planted the flat of her hand on her chest. "I did. With Lizzie and with Alex dead I have it. Why can't you?"

"Because I'm not like you, Anna. I'm not a courageous woman braving it on her own with the daughter she fights tooth and nail to protect." John shook his head, "No matter what good I've done for you or with you I'm sill a criminal. I've done horrible things."

"We've all done horrible things."

"No, not like this."

"I killed him." Anna took a deep breath, trying not to look John in the face, trying not to see his widened eyes. "When I told you Alex got swept away in a flashflood that was only part of the truth."

"What are you saying?"

Anna gathered her breath, closing her eyes so she could focus. "He took me out, to see the edge of the property, and we'd been arguing. I screamed at him and he slapped me to the ground. It rung my ears and I couldn't really think."

"Was this when-"

"No," Anna shook her head, "That was at least a month before but it was why we were arguing. Because I didn't want it to happen like that again and he said it'd happen whenever and however he wanted."

"Bastard."

"That's one word for him." Anna swallowed, "He tried to drag me to my feet but I fought him as best I could and he hit me again. We struggled and I managed to loosen the rifle from his saddle. He grabbed the barrel and I brought the end around to get him in the side of the head."

"You defended yourself?"

"I knocked him unconscious and I hadn't noticed the sky changing because we were fighting. The flashflood came and…" Anna let out her breath, "I'm the reason my husband is dead and yet I got a second chance."

"That man deserved what he got."

"The Lord says 'vengeance is mine and I will repay'."

"I think the Lord let's us be His hands in that kind of repayment, don't you?" John stepped toward her, "You survived that man and you did what you had to. That's not at all like what I've done."

"It's not fair." Anna tried to keep her composure, "I've grown used to having you around and your company and… And I'm ever so sorry you're going."

"I am too."

They stood in silence a moment and Anna shook her head, "I wish I could say 'drop us a letter when you get where you're going' but I know where you're going."

"It'll all be alright."

"No," Anna stepped back from him, "It won't be alright. Because you'll be dead and that woman'll still be out there and it'll all've been for nothing."

"It's not for nothing Anna."

"It is. And I'm worried."

"Well we can't have that can we?" John reached out a hand and Anna let it touch her cheek, shivering slightly at the caress there. "It's as it should be."

"No," Anna murmured, "It's not."

"How should it be Ms. Smith?"

She reached up her hands and cradled his face for a moment before putting her lips on his. John froze but gave into her lead as Anna backed into the wall of the barn. He stepped forward, following her and the kiss, and stood on either side of her with his hands matching the placement of her own on his face.

Anna enjoyed the feel of his mouth on hers, losing herself in the rough strokes of his fingers against her cheeks, and only broke the kiss when a voice called from the house.

"Mummy! Dinner's getting cold."

John laughed, hanging his head a moment before looking into her eyes. "I think we'd best not keep her waiting."

"I agree." Anna took a deep breath, kissing him quickly before ducking out of his embrace, "But the offer's still open. Any of the horses you want. Just saddle one up and ride away."

"I don't think so Ms. Smith." John joined her, helping close the barn doors. "Much as I'd like to see the ocean I'm a man of my word and that means far more to me than the ocean ever could."

"You're incredibly noble, if not a bit stupid."

"It's a weakness of mine, I admit it."

Anna risked taking his hand a moment, interlacing their fingers to squeeze tightly and dropped it. 'It's a weakness I don't mind."

"Me either."

They walked inside the house and Lizzie bounded into her chair. "I thought you'd be out there forever. I can put my thing faster than you can."

"I'm sure you can." Anna served the food and looked at Lizzie, "If you're so anxious than you can help us say Grace I think."

"Alright." Lizzie squeezed her eyes shut, holding Anna's hand and taking John's with her other. Anna flicked her eyes toward John's before taking his hand as well and bowing her head. "Dear Lord, we thank thee for the food Mummy prepared, though it won't be as good now that she's let it go a bit cold."

"Elizabeth!"

"We thank thee for Mr. John and all his help with the horses. And we pray he can stay with us forever."

Anna opened her eyes and looked at John as he tried not to look at her.

"In Jesus's name, Amen." Lizzie dropped the hands she held and picked up her utensils. She paused when she noted Anna and John still holding hands. "Aren't you hungry?"

Anna smiled at Lizzie, dropping John's hand, "Yes, I think I am."

"Good because we've got to eat it before it gets any worse."

"Elizabeth May Smith!"

John risked a bite and then shrugged, "It's not bad."

Anna frowned, "You're just trying to keep your place on the sofa."

"Maybe." John smiled at her, "Maybe it really isn't bad."


	7. Gunnin' for You

Anna blinked, sitting up before she realized the pounded came from her front door. She grabbed her dressing gown, kissing Lizzie's curls as the girl grumbled in her sleep, and pulled the curtain aside to go to the front door. John already sat dressed and ready for the day on the sofa, putting his book down as he pointed to the door.

"Should I hide?" He mouthed but Anna shook her head.

"Everyone already knows you're here." She replied and opened the door to see a gray-haired man and an older woman with dark hair standing there.

"Good morning Anna, I hope we've haven't come too early but we just got in and we thought we should conclude our business before the end of the day." He held up a piece of paper, "Might we barge in?"

Anna peeked around the door to where John stood and shrugged, "Be my guests." She stepped back, offering a place at her table. "I hope you don't mind if I put on some clothes."

"Of course not." The man removed his hat as he stepped through the door, holding it for the woman behind him. "We've disturbed your morning and it's us who should-"

He stopped, catching sight of John as Anna slipped through the partition blocking her bed from the main room. "John Bates? Is that really you?"

Anna smiled to herself as she hurried to dress, pulling her hair back, and splashing some water over her face before turning to where Lizzie's curls fuzzed over her head as the girl sat up. "Good morning sweet girl."

"Mummy?" Her fist worked the gum from her eyes as Anna brought a wet cloth over. "Is someone here?"

"Just the Crawleys." Anna kissed Lizzie's cheeks, "Do you want to get dressed now?"

"Okay." Lizzie moved stiffly as Anna helped her change into her dress and tied back her hair into two matching braids.

They emerged to see Mr. Crawley and John in deep conversation as Mrs. Crawley sat by her husband, holding his hand. Anna set Lizzie on her lap and took a chair near them. Mr. Crawley turned to her, pointing at finger at Anna, and tried to speak through his grin.

"He was my batman in the Army. Best soldier who ever served with me. Saved my life even."

"It wasn't anything." John waved off the praise, "I was doing my job."

"You stopped that Apache taking off my head with a tomahawk, I wouldn't call that nothing." Mr. Crawley shook his head, "What are the odds that you'd be here with our good friend?"

John and Anna darted looks toward one another but Lizzie spoke before they could. "He's here helping us break horses while Mr. Carson gets the Marshall."

"Marshall?" Mrs. Crawley looked at Anna, "Why's Sherriff Carson gone for the Marshall?"

"Because I'm a wanted felon." John cleared his throat, "I do hope you don't think I've been deceiving you by not saying it sooner."

"Wanted felon?" Mr. Crawley snorted, "Wanted for what?"

"I rode with Vera Bates."

Mrs. Crawley shuddered, putting a hand to her neck. "We've heard the stories of what that horrible woman's done. It's almost impossible to believe that anyone could be so evil."

"Unfortunately she is." John shook his head, "How I got tangled up in that mess is neither here nor there at this point as the reality of the situation is that I'm here on good behavior, helping Ms. Smith break her horses, before she gives me back to the law."

Mr. Crawley pursed his lips a moment before shaking his head. "I don't believe it's as serious as all that."

"I assure you, it's all true." John insisted as Mr. Crawley stood, going to the table. "I'm just waiting for the Marshall so he can take me to the nearest court."

"And I call crackers on that and bullocks on anyone who'd be a part of it." Mr. Crawley drew a pen from his pocket, using it to point toward Anna, "If you're living in her house and she's not shot you then how bad can you really be?"

"I'm not sure I'm the best measure of it since I did shoot at him." Anna set Lizzie on the sofa next to John so she could stand.

"Anna," Mr. Crawley sighed, "The man's staying in your house, with your daughter, and that's all I need to know about him in his current condition."

"But it won't be my house in a moment, will it?" Anna joined him at the table, taking the pen he offered.

"If you still want to sign it all over to me."

"I do." Anna bent over, reading the papers before signing her name on all the appropriate lines. "And with this I, Anna Smith, give you my lands for the tidy sum we already discussed."

"You've yourself a nice deal, Ms. Smith." Mr. Crawley extended a hand and they shook. "I do still find it so fascinating that a married woman uses her maiden name on legal documents."

"Widow," Anna clarified, handing the pen back, "I took back my name the moment the law deemed that man no longer living."

"Good riddance to him." Mrs. Crawley breathed, theater whispering to John. "He was a horrible guest at dinners and obnoxious at all social functions."

"Can't imagine someone like him attending many of those, if what Anna says about him is true." John allowed Lizzie to climb onto his lap and held her there. "He sounded absolutely dreadful."

"Not as dreadful as what we're dealing with now." Mr. Crawley blew over the paper, walking back toward the chair where his wife sat. "We've got men trying to steal our cattle, driving them away from the watering grounds, and making a general nuisance in our back forty."

"I thought Matthew and Branson were doing something about that." Anna folded her arms over her chest, standing hear the back of the sofa near John. "Mary hadn't mentioned it being a problem when she stopped by the other day."

"It's gotten worse." Mr. Crawley sighed and then snapped his fingers, looking at John. "If you're a wanted felon then perhaps you wouldn't mind a bit of civic service."

"I'm at the end of the service the women of the town allowed." John nodded toward the door. "With the horses all broken we're meant to drive them to town in exchange for my temporary freedom."

"At who's order since Sheriff Carson's not here?" Mrs. Crawley turned to Anna.

"Mrs. Hughes, Mrs. Moorsum, Ms. Parks, and Ms. Dawson."

"Ah, the temperance league." Mr. Crawley shifted uncomfortably a moment and John shot Anna a look she shook her head to delay. "I'm surprised they bothered coming this far out."

"It might've had something to do with me breaking John from his cell and leaving Alfred there." Anna shrugged at Mr. Crawley trying to bite back a laugh and Mrs. Crawley covering her mouth in shock. "No one was hurt."

"Then perhaps we should all give them something to talk about on a few more fronts." Mr. Crawley waved his hand between Anna and John, "You two should come to dinner tonight. We're celebrating surviving visits from our mothers and we've invited the new pastor."

"He seems a decent sort." Anna turned to John, "If you're up for eating something not cooked on my stove."

"I'd never turn down an invitation extended by my former commanding officer." John stood, holding Lizzie at his side and offering his other hand to Mr. Crawley. "I'd be honored to come."

"Then we'll see you at seven." Mr. Crawley held up the papers toward Anna. "And I'll have these filed before the end of the day so you'll get the first part of your payment by this evening."

"Thank you Mr. Crawley," Anna shook his hand before hugging Mrs. Crawley, "It'll be our pleasure to come."

"Remember, seven." Mr. Crawley warned, holding the door for his wife before closing it behind him.

Anna sighed, putting a hand to her forehead. "I don't know how that man does it."

"Does what?"

"Runs on seemingly endless energy." Anna turned to her stove, "He's mayor of the town, manages his ranch, works in the cattle trade, and now he's getting into oil."

"He always hired people good at what they did and oversaw it all." John set Lizzie down, "But when I met him his family was broke."

"You didn't mention that." Anna snorted, "I guess that's why he never met with me about the land without his wife."

"It's technically all her money locked into whatever he's doing." John came to Anna's side, "How can I help?"

"Get Lizzie to set the table and then get water?" Anna paused, "We need some things from breakfast from cold storage and-"

"I think we can find something." John turned to Lizzie, "Want to come on an adventure with me?"

She bounded over to him and John bent enough for her to throw her arms around his neck. His hands held at her legs, supporting her on his back, and they left the house. Anna smiled to herself as she watched them out the window before turning back to her preparations.

When they came back John let Lizzie down to set the table and presented Anna with their findings. "I was curious about something."

"What?" Anna sorted through what they brought and took what she needed to start cutting.

"When Robert mentioned the temperance league it was like the whole room went cold a moment."

Anna snuck a look over her shoulder to where Lizzie carefully straightened a fork before lowering her voice to speak to John. "Mrs. Moorsum, Jane, lost her husband in the mining accident last year. Mr. Crawley felt a degree of personal responsibility and did what he could for the widows and orphans in the town afterward."

"I couldn't see him doing anything less."

"He's a good man." Anna agreed, placing a skillet on the stovetop and pouring the cut food inside it. "Most of the women moved to relatives elsewhere but Jane had nowhere to go and she stayed in town with her son, Freddie."

"And?"

"She worked as Mr. Crawley's personal secretary for a few months as he tried to help her make ends meet and…" Anna squirmed, "We'll just say that their relationship was not just cordial by the end of her tenure."

"Was it Biblical in any way?"

"Knowing them as I do I wouldn't say they actually broke any of the Old Testament commandments but I think Jesus had something to say about those who look upon a woman to lust after her."

"What's lust mean?" Lizzie came to Anna's elbow.

"It means to want someone for reasons that aren't very good." John cut in, "Why don't we wash our hands since I think your Mummy's almost done here."

"I am." Anna turned to John, mouthing a 'thank you'.

He shrugged it off, helping Lizzie reach her hands under the pump so they could clean off before taking their seats at the table. "Are you excited for dinner at the Crawleys?"

"We've been before." Lizzie let her chin rise a bit, hair flopping slightly to the side with a self-important air that had Anna rolling her eyes. "I can show you around if you'd like."

"I think I would like that." John leaned toward her, lowering his voice, "Do I need a guide to navigate their house?"

"Yes but I know it well enough you don't have to ask anyone else." Lizzie folded her hands, "May I say grace?"

"I think I should." Anna took Lizzie's hand in hers and extended one toward John, "Unless you want to."

"I'd be honored." John bowed his head and Anna closed her eyes. "Dead Lord, we express our gratitude that we gather at this table and for the time we've got to spend with one another. We pray that, should it be possible, we could continue as we are. Amen."

"Amen." Lizzie hurriedly agreed, snatching her hand from Anna's.

Anna looked up and John, taking her hand back, and pushed back from the table. "Excuse me a moment."

She went outside, walking over to the horse paddock, and put her hands on her hips. Pacing in the dirt, Anna used her hand to hold back strands of hair the wind blew loose before crossing her arms over her chest. She closed her eyes, scrunching them to stop her tears, and turned hurriedly as she heard the sound of boots approaching.

"Are you alright?" John approached her but Anna backed up, brushing her hand over her eyes.

"Just the wind, blowing a bit of dirt in my eyes. It's fine."

"I mean why you left the table." John pointed back toward the house, "I hope it wasn't something I said."

"It most certainly was." Anna shook her head, "I wish you wouldn't do that."

"What?"

"Give me a speech, last night about how you can't stay here and how you've got to repay your debt to society, and then pray in front of my daughter about how you want to stay."

"But I do want to stay."

"You can't do this to me." Anna put a hand to her chest, "You can't refuse it when I give you the chance to run away, acting noble, and then tell me you want to stay here. My heart can't bear it."

"Anna-"

"Because I think I love you, Mr. Bates." Anna threw her hands into the air, "I know it's not ladylike to say it but I'm not a lady and I don't pretend to be."

John stepped toward her and this time she did not move. His hand graced her cheek, running his fingers along her jaw, "You're a lady to me, and I've never met a finer one."

"Then please," Anna begged, "Don't go. Don't go back to town, don't go back to that cell, and don't go with the Marshall when he comes. Go west, go to the ocean, go anywhere you can live because I can't bear to watch you die."

"I can't just run Anna."

"Yes you can and you should." Anna shook her head, "How do I explain to Lizzie what happened when you're not here anymore. How do I tell her that you're dead?"

"Just say I had to go away, like the last time."

"She's a smart girl, Mr. Bates. She won't accept that for long."

John sighed, "I don't know. I didn't mean for this to happen and I know that you'll think I've misused you or…"

"I think nothing of the sort, Mr. Bates." Anna stopped him, her hand lifting his chin, "I just wish you'd be honest with me. About why you're doing any of this."

"Because I love you too, Anna Smith, and I couldn't bear the thought of hiding here with you and avoiding the truth of what I am and what I've done."

"And you'd die for that?"

"I'd give myself over to save you." John nodded toward the house where Anna saw Lizzie peeking through a window. "And that little girl in there."

"She wants you to stay." Anna lowered her voice, "I want you to stay."

"So do I." John darted his eyes to the side, "What do you think she'll say if I kissed you?"

"Probably nothing but she'd grin and hum for the rest of the day." Anna smiled, "It'd make her happy."

"Then may I?"

"Please do." Anna tilted her head just enough for John's lips to meet hers.

It was not the rushed and desperate motion of their kiss the night before. It felt gentle, kind, and loving. Everything Anna wanted in a kiss but never found before now.

They separated and John offered Anna his hand, "Should we go inside. She'll say breakfast got cold."

"It was worth it." Anna took his hand, interlacing their fingers.

* * *

Anna dismounted, holding her hands up for John to lower Lizzie to her, and smiled at the man coming from the house. "Good evening Mr. Moseley."

"Good evening Ms. Smith." He bent down, "And Ms. Lizzie, how are you this evening?"

"I'm very well thank you." She spun a bit, "Do you like my Easter dress? Mummy said I could wear it because it's a special occasion."

"It's very beautiful and it fits you nicely." Mr. Moseley stood again, nodding at the horses. "Do they need anything?"

"Probably a rub down, nothing more." Anna patted the neck of her horse, stepping back as John dismounted. "This is my friend, Mr. John Bates."

"Pleasure sir," Mr. Moseley bowed his head, "I'm the Crawley's butler and the manager of the estate."

"Must be quite a handful for you."

"Well," He shrugged, twitching a bit with a smile at the corner of his mouth. "My wife helps with it."

"Then you're in luck. Women are always smarter than men." John smiled at him, "Will I have the pleasure of meeting your wife?"

"She's in town tonight, guest of Mrs. Hughes, but if you happen to come back at another time I'm sure she wouldn't mind meeting the infamous John Bates." Mr. Moseley sniggered, then composed himself. "I'm sorry, that was-"

"Completely fine and I'd be honored to answer any questions you have at a later date as well." John pointed to Lizzie, "She gets a bit finicky about cold food."

"Mrs. Patmore and Daisy never let food get cold so Ms. Lizzie's got nothing to worry about." Mr. Moseley turned on a sharp heel, "Follow me."

They followed him inside and joined the small party already gathered in the sitting room. Lizzie ran over to a blonde headed boy in the corner and a dark haired girl there, leaving Anna and John at the mercy of the room. Anna leaned over to him.

"The blonde one is George, Mary's son, and the girl is Sybil's daughter."

"Our grandchildren." Mr. Crawley came over to them, shaking John's hand with enthusiasm as if he had not seen him just that morning. "Do their parents proud I'd say."

"They do." Anna offered her cheek for a kiss. "And where are their parents?"

"Here." Mary entered the room, raising an eyebrow at John. "Though I must say, for all the interesting and not-so-interesting people we've hosted in this house it's the first time I can claim I saw the face of the man before me on a wanted poster before I saw it in the paper."

"Mary!" Mrs. Crawley tried to reprimand but John raised his hand.

"It's perfectly alright. I find those who approach the subject directly are usually better at understanding it than those who dance around it." John kissed Mary's hand, "And I'll be honest, this is the first party I've been to where I wasn't helping to rob it."

"My, my," Mary shrugged, turning to the blonde man next to her, "We'll have to lock up the silver Matthew or they'll be nothing for George to inherit by the end of the night."

"I do hope you won't be so ghastly all evening." Sybil joined them, pulling a slightly less excited man on her arm. "I thought Edith was coming."

"She can't be bothered to get her clothes on." Mary muttered and Anna caught the pale wash over Mr. Crawley's face. "But I guess that means I'll be in better spirits."

"I do hope you'll excuse my wife," The blonde man cut in, offering John his hand. "She's one who allows her tongue to flap at both ends."

"I don't tend to mind those who say what they think." John shrugged, "I've not got the time to guess what people are about otherwise."

"You sound pretty level headed for someone who got themselves wanted by the law." The man with Sybil spoke, "I'd have thought someone with a brain could keep themselves off those."

"They say passion rules reason and I, unfortunately, let my passion rule my reason for far too long." John shook his hand, "Something I think and Irishman like yourself might appreciate."

"I do indeed." He smiled, "Tom Branson."

"And I'm Sybil Branson," Sybil gave her hand as well, "Since we're obviously all forgotten our manners in the shock and delight of your presence here tonight."

"I do hope I'm not a spoiler to the evening then." They all turned as Talbot entered the room. "Religion does tend to spoil a few appetites."

"That depends," Mary sniffed, "Are you going to feed it to us now or wait for Sunday?"

"I find religion in the everyday but I'm the kind of man who believes one should allow everyone their own religion." Talbot turned to John, "Something for which I believe I should thank you, Mr. Bates."

"Me?"

"Yes," He ducked his head, "You may not remember but we met some time ago, in the Utah territory."

John's eyes widened, "You were that cattle driver near the Virgin River Gorge."

"I was."

"You've changed professions."

"And so've you, if rumors are true." Talbot smiled, "Breaking horses for the locals is quite a difference from our last encounter."

"I hope you've come to offer me a way to save my soul."

Talbot grinned, "As I discussed with Ms. Smith when we met, I don't think your soul needs saving."

"And what, Pastor, do you think he needs?" Mary opened her hands, "Leniency?"

"I think he needs another chance to prove he's not the devil everyone thinks." Talbot shrugged, addressing the room, "Didn't Christ advocate that we should forgive our brothers seventy-times seven?"

"Not sure the law would be as good at keeping the law-abiding safe in their beds if they were in the habit of just leaving the guilty out of the prisons." Mary turned when Mr. Moseley came to the door, "But I guess that's discussion for dinner."

"We might need to find another subject for dinner, dear." Matthew steered Mary out of the room, with everyone following them.

"Bates," Anna and John stopped as Mr. Crawley motioned for them to come back. "In the spirit of Mr. Talbot's suggestion there I've actually got a proposal of my own for you."

"Sir?"

"I told you about the cattle here and those who keep driving them off and trying to steal them?" John nodded and Anna folded her arms over her chest as Mr. Crawley smiled. "Why not, as I suggested, do a bit more civic duty and help me here?"

"Not sure your private enterprise could be counted as a civic duty." Anna noted but Mr. Crawley only rolled back his shoulders.

"I'm the Mayor and we've got a good man at our disposal who'll just waste away in a cell otherwise. It's in the public interest to use him to help us protect the town." Mr. Crawley grew serious, "It's a matter of not only protecting my herds but driving these men off, whoever they are."

"What's the worry?" John frowned, "Cattle stealers aren't usually too dangerous."

"It's not them I'm worried about as much as the town." Mr. Crawley lowered his voice more. "Most people heard about the accident in the mine last year but they haven't put two and two together yet."

Anna drew in a breath, "You're worried they'll come after the women in town."

"I don't want anyone suffering because they've trusted themselves to the land." Mr. Crawley turned to John, "I know that I can't offer you anything beyond this for now and what you do with whatever freedom you may find later is up to your conscience but I promise, besides the pay you'll earn, I'll turn a blind eye to whatever you decide in the end."

John turned to Anna, who only shrugged. "It's not my choice."

"I'd like to do some good with what I've got for once." John offered Mr. Crawley his hand, "You've got yourself a deal Mr. Crawley."

They shook, the grin almost breaking over Mr. Crawley's face. "Excellent. Let's eat then shall we?"

Anna caught John's arm, "So I guess that means you'll be staying awhile longer?"

John smiled, "I'll need someplace, if that's alright with you."

"I think Lizzie and I'd be chuffed about it."


	8. The Bible or the Gun

"So, Mr. Talbot," Mary sipped from her glass, "What brought you all the way to Downton to be our Preacher?"

Anna turned up from her plate, Talbot's small chuckle as he dabbed around his mouth with a napkin. "Opportunity, Mrs. Crawley."

"I'm sure if I had my pick of congregations this little hovel in the middle of nowhere wouldn't be my first choice." She reached for her glass, gently swirling the liquid inside to settle it before taking a drink. "Were you the last one on the list?"

"On the contrary, I'm from the area and I wanted to give back to the community."

"From the area?" Mr. Crawley frowned, "Do we know members of your family?"

"I've an aunt in Santa Fe who raised me for a time when my parents were ill." Talbot sipped at his own drink, "If you remember a Prudence Shackleton then you know my aunt."

"I do remember her," Mrs. Crawley turned to Mr. Crawley across the table. "She's the one who hosted that dinner where Lord Aysgarth suffered a stroke."

"Served him right for trying so hard to impress your mother." Mr. Crawley snorted, "The man was tripping over himself trying to get at her money."

"Some people just want companionship in their old age Papa." Sybil spoke up, her fingers interlacing with Branson's. "It's a horrible thing to have to go on in life alone."

"I'm not disagreeing with the motive of wanting someone to keep you sustained in your old age but I do take umbrage with those hunting fortunes to maintain a lifestyle."

"Isn't that what you did?" Mary muttered in her glass and then glared back at her mother's scowl. "I doubt that any of us have the right to cast stones at another when our houses are glass are so exceedingly precarious."

"That's a very informed philosophy, Mrs. Crawley." Talbot set down his utensils. "I don't suppose you'd like to help me give the sermon on it."

"I'm not one for church."

"There's no harm in that seeing as I wasn't either."

"And yet you've got yourself a collar." Mary pointed at it. "I doubt that's a fashion statement you're trying to have catch on."

"It's my daily reminder that we can all change."

"How did you change, Mr. Talbot?" Anna interceded before whatever next comment opened Mary's mouth could escape. "You'd mentioned before that you used to be a cattle driver."

"My father was a ranch manager for neighbors of my aunt until he, and my mother as I mentioned, fell ill. They went to California for a time and recovered through the aid of the wonderful doctors at the French Hospital there."

"And your aunt raised you?" John put a piece of meat in his mouth.

"She tried," Talbot laughed. "Bless that woman's still determined soul but she tried."

"I guess you can't get the wilderness out of a man."

Talbot nodded at John, "My father practically raised me in the saddle and I helped him drive cattle from the time I was young. Once my aunt got ahold of me it was all she could do to have me sleep in a real bed."

"But you enjoyed it, cattle driving?" Mr. Crawley leaned forward and Anna hid her grin at the disapproving look from Mrs. Crawley.

"It was my life for a long time." Talbot snuck a look at John, "Until Mr. Bates here helped me find a different path."

"I'm intrigued to hear how that would've happened since I doubt you turned to illegal activities." Mary risked from the other end of the table and Matthew rolled his eyes at her.

"I think you should be more mindful of our guests darling."

"She's not entirely out of place," John voiced, "I am an outlaw and I am sharing your table on the basis of hospitality I honestly don't deserve."

"Does anyone deserve hospitality?" Branson finally spoke, "If we're all sinners before God the way I'm sure Mr. Talbot here might suggest, then perhaps we might be a bit more open minded about the kind of glass houses where we're pitching our stones."

"Mr. Branson is completely correct." Talbot smiled, "I turned to God because I realized that perhaps a life in the rough wasn't where I needed to be. I won't say that I saw Jacob's Ladder by any stretch of the imagination but I did find an awakening of my own. A desire to spread the second chance I was offered at life for others."

"By bringing them to God?" Mary raised an eyebrow.

"I find there's not many higher callings on could assume in their life after taking on that kind of role."

"But you still wear your guns, Mr. Talbot. Surely Christ commanded us to turn the other cheek."

"He didn't ask us to roll over and show our bellies though. We defend what is ours if we're not the instigators of the quarrel. Christ's incentives to us, in those accounts, weren't for us to suffer continued and prolonged abuses Mrs. Crawley but to seek in our hearts to mend the emotions that lead us to look on others with disdain or judgment before we've actually listened to them." Talbot patted his guns. "These are my defense for the flock I've here and I don't think the life I led before I turned to God was one about which I need feel ashamed. He'll use my skills as Preacher and as Gunman if need be."

"Holy warrior of the next crusade then?"

"If God commands I'll have no option but to answer Him."

"And what about you Mr. Bates," Mary turned her focus to John, "Do you remember the moment you turned our Preacher here to God?"

"Once he reminded me of the circumstances I remember meeting him but I won't take credit for turning anyone religious when I'm not overly religious myself."

"Did you grow up religious?" Sybil shrugged when Mary stared at her, "I think it's fair to ask when there are more religions than just one."

"My mother was a Roman Catholic and I still remember the prayers, though I don't say them." John coughed, "I guess I drew away from God when I decided to take my turn away from the strait and narrow."

"Mr. Talbot'd love a chance to turn you back to God."

"I think each man needs to find God on his own, Mrs. Crawley, and I'd be hard put to be missionary to any man." Talbot pondered a moment, "Though I have met some rather incredible individuals in that regard."

"We had some in New York and Cincinnati who were making an awful racket about restored gospel." Mrs. Crawley shook her head, "I can't really see it as dignified to send men away from their families to stand on boxes in town squares and shout about religion."

"It's a personal matter for some and, like all personal matters, is sometimes dealt with in ways we might not believe are personal." Talbot took a drink, "There's a difference, I think, in our perceptions of personal and private."

"Like a relationship to God?" Sybil ventured and Talbot nodded.

"Exactly. Some people might believe evidence of their devotion comes from preaching in the town square and inviting all to come to Christ while others would rather sit quietly in a back pew and live Christ through pure religion."

"Then you're truly not the Preacher ready to call down fire and brimstone on those who aren't walking through the doors of your church on Sunday." Mary made a face, "Is that something they're teaching in the seminaries now, patient religion?"

"I begrudge no man the time it takes him to come to God since it took me some time to do it myself."

"A fall from a horse and a near drowning if I remember what happened at Virgin River Gorge correctly." John voiced and gasps came from the table. "Your horse wasn't so lucky."

"She was very willful but she could outstrip any other horse I've ever ridden." Talbot sighed, "But yes, in that moment when I thought I was going to drown and you scooped me from the water I saw God."

"I'm sure I was a poor stand in for Him."

"I'm of the belief that much of God's work is done in the hands of others."

"Are we even worthy to be so? Do we even deserve it?"

Talbot did not immediately answer, waiting a moment before speaking again to a silent table. "I don't think it's got anything to do with 'deserve' if I'm being honest."

"What do you think it's got to do with?" Branson kept Sybil's hand close to his as he leaned toward Talbot.

"I think it's got more to do with the kind of people God wants us to become. We're imperfect but, from my recollection and fledgling study of history, imperfect people are all God's ever had the chance to work with."

Mary snorted, "Must make it incredibly frustrating for Him."

"But He manages anyway and we're blessed to help our neighbors, to serve those about us, to strengthen the feeble knees, and to lift the hands that hang down." Talbot stopped himself, chuckling, "I'm sorry, I've let my inner preacher get away with me and turned dinner conversation into a sermon."

"Give me sermons like that and I'd go to church twice on Sunday." Branson shook his head, the awe lightening his face. "I've never had someone put it so simply and beautifully before."

"I can only take credit for an education in elocution and eloquence under my aunt. All the rest of it is simply due to the Bible I carry." Talbot picked up his fork again. "All the rest is in God's hands, where I think it's safest, and I serve Him as best I can for as long as I can."

"May that be for some time yet." Mr. Crawley raised his glass, "It was hard enough getting you out here to be our Preacher the first time. I haven't time to scrounge around for another."

"Here, here." Mrs. Crawley joined in and they toasted with clinked glasses.

* * *

Anna lifted Lizzie from her shoulder and John took her gently so Anna could dismount. The girl's curly head lifted only enough to transfer back to Anna's shoulder, her breath blowing warm on Anna's neck. Rubbing a soothing hand over Lizzie's back, Anna nodded toward her horse. "Leave her a moment and I'll come back to take care of her once I've settled this one."

"I can do it." John assured her, "It won't take a moment."

"Are you sure?"

"Very." He smiled, "Take care of Lizzie and I'll be in before you know it."

Anna walked Lizzie to the house and managed one arm under the girl's leg as she struck a match to light the lanterns. Lizzie grumbled, turning further into her mother's neck to avoid the light, and Anna laughed a little. "Someone's tired."

Extricating Lizzie from her clothing proved difficult as she refused to bend and move but eventually Anna managed to get a nightgown over her. Lizzie burrowed herself under her covers and Anna smiled at the tuft of hair showing from under the blankets. Turning to her own clothes she managed to get into her nightgown as the door opened.

John stopped, pointing out the door without saying anything as Anna let her hands drop from straightening her collar. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you-"

"It's perfectly alright Mr. Bates." Anna opened her hands as if displaying her nightgown, "If you'll notice I'm entirely covered."

"Yes but…"

Anna frowned, "What?"

John pointed to the lantern behind her and Anna could swear the red blush from her collarbones hit her cheeks faster than any of her horses could run. "The light's behind you."

"It's an old nightgown."

"I hope you didn't think I was-"

"I'd be hard pressed to assume you thought anything but what a gentleman thinks, Mr. Bates." Anna cleared her throat, "Thus far it's been your habit and I don't think it's been an act just to see me in my nightgown."

"Absolutely not." He assured her, shifting toward the sofa. "I'll just make myself comfortable here."

Anna bit at her lip before clearing her throat, "Mr. Bates, I hope my next suggestion doesn't sound too suggestive if I say that you might need a more comfortable bed."

He stopped, "What?"

"If you're going to be helping Mr. Crawley with his cattle then you'll need a better night sleep than you've been getting on that sofa."

"I've been sleeping alright."

"I know it's hard, Mr. Bates, and that there's a bar down the middle that's surely been digging into your back." She cut him off before John could argue, "I've watched you massage it out for a week now and I think I can do something about it."

"If it's not too impolite to say, Ms. Smith, you've not got another bed to offer or you would've before now."

"I've got mine to offer."

"I couldn't take yours."

"I'll sleep with Lizzie and you'll finally have a bit of comfort."

John laughed, rubbing his hand through the hair at the back of his head. "If you listened to Mr. Talbot tonight you'd know that comfort's not in the lifestyle I'm used to."

"Maybe you could get used to a new lifestyle." Anna shrugged, "It'd be worth it to try, wouldn't it?"

He waffled a moment longer before nodding, "I'd be honored by your invitation, Ms. Smith."

"Good." She turned back toward the bedroom and pulled at the curtain, "Just whisper when you're ready."

"I will."

Anna sat on the edge of Lizzie's bed, stroking through her curls until she noticed the shadow of John at the curtain. Drawing it back enough to allow him in she noticed his shirt still buttoned over his chest and frowned. "I wasn't aware you wore that to bed."

"I don't." He blushed, "I thought it'd be less awkward if-"

"You're not the first man I've seen, Mr. Bates, and the first time you entered this house I stripped you naked so I think you'll be fine if I see your chest again." Anna put a hand over her eyes. "If you'd like I won't look until you feel sufficiently modest."

A moment later the covers and the ropes on her bed gave enough noise to tell her he was in bed and Anna opened her eyes. "See, that wasn't so bad."

"I only have one thing to say," John held up a finger, Anna catching a glimpse of the dark hair spattering the top of his chest, "You didn't see me naked the first time."

"I did."

"You saw me from behind and then I had a shirt to cover the rest of me." John defended, "You saw most of me, not all of me."

"My loss then?" Anna teased and tried to get into bed with Lizzie but the little girl groaned whenever Anna tried to adjust her.

"Having some trouble?"

"It seems so." Anna put her hands on her hips. "If I move her too much she'll wake up and I'll never get her back to sleep. If I don't move her-"

"You'll have no room." John went to get up but Anna put out a hand.

"Don't you dare leave that bed Mr. Bates."

"Then…" He closed his eyes, "Would it be too improper if I offered to share the bed you've already shared with me."

"I can manage a quilt on the sofa."

"No," John shifted back until his back hit the wall. "I'll stay here and I promise nothing untoward or improper. You can have your quilt and sleep on the blankets or I can manage a quilt and you can sleep under the blankets. Either way I think we could both manage to sleep here if you don't move too much in your sleep."

"I'm not a shifter." Anna pulled two quilts from the trunk at the end of the bed and wrapped in them before easing herself into the provided space. "You don't move much in the night do you?"

"No. I sleep like a log and lay like one."

"Good because Lizzie can sometimes snore and you wouldn't believe the sound that comes from that girl."

John laughed as Anna eased into the space next to him, facing toward Lizzie and sensing John at her back. "I've heard it."

Anna looked over her shoulder, "I do hope you didn't think it was me."

"I'd never assume anything of the kind." John smiled and Anna settled back. "I don't think you could produce any noises less than lady like."

"I'll take the compliment there before reminding you that I'm not a lady."

"You keep saying it but I don't believe it."

Anna's voice was almost a whisper, "Because you've never met a finer lady than me?"

"Exactly." His breath ghosted over her ear, "Might I kiss you goodnight Anna?"

She moved to face him, "I'd like that."

His lips touched hers softly, almost sleepily, but always gentle. When he pulled back Anna almost wanted to ask for more but then Lizzie snorted and they had to muffle their giggles in their blankets. Anna smiled at him before reaching over their heads to turn down the lantern.

"Goodnight Mr. Bates."

"Goodnight Ms. Smith."

* * *

Anna pulled at the reins and smiled at Moseley. "Good afternoon Mr. Moseley."

"Good afternoon Ms. Smith." He frowned, "Ms. Lizzie today?"

"Afraid not." Anna dismounted, holding the reins in her hand. "She's at school pretending to learn something so that when I ask her she'll say she did."

"Her heart's not for the classroom?"

"She'd rather be breaking horses or herding cattle." Anna laughed, "She's been listening to Mr. Bates regale her with stories of cattle driving for a week now and when she goes to bed she keep begging me to let her learn how to rope a steer or brand one."

"One day I guess."

"One day." Anna shrugged, pointing inside. "Is Mr. Crawley inside?"

"He's in his study. Should I take you to him?"

"That'd be lovely." Anna tied her horse to the post and followed Moseley inside, removing her gloves.

Once at the study door Moseley knocked once and then stepped back to open the door for her. She smiled at him and proceeded inside, tucking her gloves into her belt before removing her hat. Mr. Crawley looked up from his desk and they shook hands over it before he offered her a seat.

"What pleasure brings you out this afternoon?"

"I'm actually here to finalize the purchase of my ranch." Anna opened her hands, "I've been making some plans and I need to know the kind of capital I can work with to move forward."

"The bank's closing by the end of next week and I've the initial capital for the sale here." Mr. Crawley reached under his desk and Anna heard the click of tumblers before the squeak of hinges. "I'll need a forwarding address and a location to wire or send the money once we start pulling the oil from your land."

"We could work that on a monthly basis I think. Enough to give purpose to whatever transfers we're risking on the train and yet not so much it'll break the investment." Anna counted the money Mr. Crawley handed over. "If that's satisfactory with you?"

"It's your money Ms. Smith so I think the question is if it's satisfactory to you." Mr. Crawley waited and Anna nodded.

"It's more than fair."

"Good." They stood, shaking hands again. "I don't suppose you've decided where you're going now."

"That's the thing." Anna cringed, "I don't know."

"Well you're welcome to stay in your house until you make a decision."

"I couldn't stay on your property like a squatter, Mr. Crawley."

"No one'd be using the place otherwise and I'd hate for it to fall into disrepair until I've a plan for it." Mr. Crawley shrugged, "You might even want to renegotiate and you could rent the house and barn as a manager of the property."

"It's a tempting thought, and I'll consider it with the same generosity you've offered it, but I think…" Anna shifted, "It'll be hard to stay here once Mr. Bates is gone."

"I'll assume that Ms. Lizzie's gotten herself a bit attached to him."

"We both have. More than we should've if I'm being honest."

"I think I can add my name to the list you're making there." Mr. Crawley led them toward the back of his house. "I remember John from the Army and I swear there is no finer man than that."

"He's still wanted by the law, Mr. Crawley."

"I don't believe he did even half of those things they want to lay over his neck." Mr. Crawley lowered his voice, "Personally I believe it was that woman who did most of it but our government can't comprehend there's inherent evil in all people because they think women are the Virgin Mary."

"I don't entirely disagree with you on that point but unless you can convince the Marshall Sheriff Carson's bringing back with him that Mr. Bates is a reformed man then it won't matter what we think about any of it."

"I received a telegram from Sheriff Carson this morning that said he's been held up in that regard." Mr. Crawley pulled it from his pocket to confirm the details on it. "The Marshalls are busy with something up north and so he's been put on hold. They've even pressed him to some temporary duties in some Indian riots they're having so he won't be back for days, maybe even weeks yet."

"Poor Mrs. Hughes."

"He's a tough old bird and I very much doubt he'll let some stray bullet take him from his life here."

Anna shook her head, "It's the stray bullets we can't fully watch for."

"All the same," Mr. Crawley tucked the telegram back into his pocket, "I'm sure Ms. Lizzie'll be overjoyed that she'll get more time with Mr. Bates."

"It's all still borrowed time." Anna went to say something else when shouting brought them both from their conversation.

They pushed out the backdoor and then Anna held it open as John moved through it as quickly as he could, carrying someone in his arms. Branson followed right behind, shouting at Moseley for the doctor, and then turned to Mr. Crawley. But he could barely speak, only mimed forward and followed the impromptu procession.

Anna and Mr. Crawley rushed after them as John took possession of the dinning table. Another woman, rushing toward the noise, entered the room and Branson addressed her. "We need sheets, hot water, and whatever we've got for pain. Bandages, our medical kit, and someone to get Mary."

"What's going on?"

"Matthew's been shot Ms. Baxter." The woman jumped to at that and Anna stepped forward.

"I can get Mary." Anna turned to Mr. Crawley, frozen in place watching as John tore Matthew's shirt open. "Where is she?"

Mr. Crawley opened his mouth to speak but no words would come. Anna turned to Branson, "Where is Mary?"

"She's in town with Sybil."

"I'll get them." Anna hurried out of the house, untying her horse and mounting while kicking him into action.

Town felt farther and closer at the same time as Anna reached the outer limits. Her speed left no time for dispute and everyone moved out of her way. Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of Moseley riding next to the doctor's cart and saw the people gathering to gossip about their possible destination. Turning her focus to the Mayor's office she dismounted and ascended the steps.

"Mary?" She called out and Mary stuck her head out of a room.

"Anna? What are you doing here?"

"Matthew's been shot and they've just got the doctor for him." Anna put a hand on Mary's arm. "We need to go now."

Mary moved faster than Anna believed possible and soon they rode neck and neck back to the house. They passed the doctor's cart but as they dismounted it came back into view with Moseley keeping pace with it. Anna took hold of Mary's reins as the other woman tore into the house.

Anna soon followed, the doctor at her heels, and only just heard the gut-wrenching scream from the dining room. They all crowded in and Anna covered her mouth with her hand at the sight of Mary draped over Matthew's body, sobbing. John came to her side and Anna turned her head toward him.

"What happened?"

"He took a bullet while we drove off some thieves." John shook his head, "I didn't even know he was shot until we'd finished."

"Where'd he get hit?"

"In the lower back." John flailed a hand in the air, "There's no exit wound so the bullet's still in his body. I think it caused a bleed internally and ripped through something."

"Was there no way to save him?" Anna turned at the sound of Mary's voice, her hands shaking on her husband's still body. "Couldn't we still do something?"

"I'm afraid, Mrs. Crawley," The doctor spoke up, examining Matthew's body around her. "We simply got here too late. He bled far too much before he even reached the house. There was nothing to be done."

Mary slumped in a chair and Anna went to her. Offering a hand, Anna tried not to wince at the crushing grip there. Instead she sat up on her knees to give her shoulder to Mary's renewed sobs.


	9. Guilty Man

Anna held tightly to Lizzie's hand as the men lowered Matthew Crawley's coffin into the dirt. The wind picked up and she used her other hand to hold her hat, squinting to stop the dust flying into her eyes. As the coffin settled Anna felt a hand at her shoulder and turned to see John standing there. She slipped her fingers over his and sighed as Talbot stepped up toward the gravestone.

"It is with a heavy heart that I stand before this grave and acknowledge the passing of Mr. Matthew Reginald Crawley." Talbot waited for a gust of wind to die down. "I admit that I didn't know him long but what I can say without reservation is he was a good man."

Talbot coughed, "I won't trouble anyone with platitudes about ascending to heaven or how his soul is resting peacefully because we're not here for him. Today we gather for us. The Bible says that those who mourn stand in need of comfort and the need for those who believe is to comfort those who mourn. Now is the time to mourn for we all remember that Jesus mourned." He waited a beat, "When His friends lost their brother He wept with them as we're going to weep together now."

He bowed his head, "For a word of prayer."

Anna bowed her head, pulling Lizzie closer, and intoned the words along with Talbot. As they finished, Lizzie walked forward and dropped the flowers in her hand into the grave. They stepped to the side as the other mourners paid their respects and waited a moment for the crowd to clear.

"I'm going to talk to Mary a moment." Anna gave Lizzie's hand to John. "Would you take her a moment?"

"Of course." John took Lizzie's hand and as they walked away Anna noted how the others at the funeral avoided him.

Shaking her head, Anna walked over to Mary and put a hand on hers. "Do you need anything?"

"Unless you can help me get my son his father back I don't think so." Mary shook her head, "I'm sorry, that was rude."

"It's grief talking." Anna assured her, "And if you want any help with George I'd like to step in. You know he and Lizzie are very close."

"I'll let you know." Mary wiped at her eyes and then groaned, "Now we've got to worry about Edith."

Anna frowned and looked over Mary's shoulder. Her jaw dropped and she tried to find something to say but could only cough. Riding toward the cemetery on a horse with only the bridle, was a naked woman. Anna covered her face, sighing into her hand, and then faced Mary.

"I thought she'd gotten better."

"No. She's taken to riding around covered in paint instead of fully nude but Lady Godiva's still riding around the town as if she's the only one who's really known loss."

"I guess grief hit her harder than it hits others." Anna looked over her shoulder and watched how the others passed looks toward John and Lizzie. "I need to handle that before someone thinks that outlaw is trying to steal my daughter."

"Ignore them." Mary sniffed, "At least you have someone."

"You and I both know it's temporary."

"Not if you took him and ran for it." Mary shrugged when Anna narrowed her eyes. "You've been paid and you happened to leave town and then he ran at the same time. It wouldn't be that suspicious."

"I'm sure it wouldn't take too much intelligence to see through that."

"I don't hold much to the intelligence of those about me." Mary nodded toward John. "You've an opportunity for a new life with him. I think you should take it."

"You're the one who said I was a fool for letting him in my house in the first place."

"And you told me you weren't selling so I guess we both changed our minds." Mary composed herself, "I've got other mourners who want to pass condolences I don't want and I think you need to save Mr. Bates from suspicious minds."

Anna nodded, "Just tell me if there's anything I can do."

"Always."

Anna walked to John and Lizzie, "I think we should leave now."

"Probably best." John walked with them as they moved toward their horses.

They almost reached them when a woman stepped in their way. Anna turned over her shoulder to see the others watching them while pretending they were otherwise occupied, and then faced her. "Good afternoon Edna."

"I suppose you thought you'd placated the temperance league with your offer of horses didn't you Ms. Smith."

"It's not an empty gesture." Anna hoisted Lizzie onto her hip. "The horses are ready and we're riding them into town any day now."

"I know for a fact those horses have been broken and trained for going on three weeks now and you're just delaying the inevitable by keeping him out on your land." The shorter woman sneered, "Is he riding you when he's not riding horses."

Anna raised her eyebrow. "I don't know what I expected from someone like yourself but I'd ask that you keep in mind that my daughter has ears and I don't want her hearing the kind of filth that'll leak from yours."

"I'm sure your daughter's heard plenty more than what I'd say." Edna turned to Lizzie, "How do you sleep through the creaking of the bed?"

"That's enough." John cut in, "Ms. Smith and her daughter have been nothing but hospitable to me in my stay here and I won't have you slandering them."

"It's not slander if it's true." Edna taunted before facing Anna and jabbing a finger in John's direction. "That man should be in a cell until the Sheriff returns or else none of us are safe."

"What are you talking about?"

"Haven't you heard about the group stealing cattle from the outer ranges?" Edna snorted, "I'm sure he says he's just out riding at night."

"The men trying to steal the Crawley's cattle?" John tried to speak but Edna only shot him a nasty scowl before stepped away.

"He's brought more ruin than this town can bear and we'd all be well rid of him."

She stormed off and Anna frowned at John, "What other cattle have been stolen?"

"Some from the Drewe's ranch went missing two days ago and another dozen or so from the Drakes." Anna pivoted to face Gwen as she approached, closing her black parasol. "It's a rotten business Anna and I don't agree with a word Edna said in regards to the civil relationship you've kept with Mr. Bates here but she's right. We had a deal."

"You're not suggesting he's the one behind the missing cattle are you?"

"I'm many things but I'm not an idiot." Gwen scoffed, "And I think Mr. Bates may be many things, some of them not what I expected, but I know one man couldn't do what these men are doing. It takes a lot more work to do what these men are doing. Cattle may be dumb but they're also temperamental and these men have skill. It's a job for more than one man."

"There aren't that many men around but I know one of them shot Matthew and, if you'd allow, I'd like to see if we could find them." John stepped forward, "Put me under the supervision of Deputy Nugent if you wish but as long as I can be of use I'd like to be."

"It'd have to be the decision of the rest of the town, Mr. Bates, since you do represent a possible threat to our safety."

"Then allow me to make that decision." Mr. Crawley walked up to them. "I'm the Mayor of this town and I'd like to think I'm not so out of touch with the needs of my constituency that I don't see the benefits of keeping Mr. Bates on a longer leash than a cell in the Sheriff's office would provide."

"We know that you've been using him on your land, Mr. Mayor, and while we respect that is your decision about your property you're talking about the defense of this town left in the hands of a hand accused of some crimes we're trying to prevent." Gwen flailed her hand, "I'd find it hard to convince some of these ladies that their interests, already fragile as they are, would be in safe hands."

"I can promise he won't be riding alone."

"I'm not sure that would be a comfort to them." Gwen sighed, "I'm sorry Mr. Mayor, almost as sorry as I am for Mr. Bates, but with all the uncertainty in this town they need something they can test with their own hands and that's the knowledge that the noted outlaw, John Bates, is locked away and not a threat to them."

"I still need his help getting my horses to town." Anna lifted Lizzie slightly to readjust her on her hip. "I can't get fifty horses into town on my own."

"Then bring them tomorrow Anna and we'll sort it out from there." Gwen nodded at all of them. "If circumstances were even a little bit different I'd do whatever I could to make this better but there's nothing we can do."

"But bow to the pressure." Anna took a deep breath, "Thank you for your help Gwen. It probably doesn't seem like much to you but it's everything to us."

"I wish I could do more."

Gwen walked away and Anna sighed. "Bugger."

"I guess we were all trying to outrun time." Mr. Crawley opened his mouth but whatever he planned to say failed him and he dropped his arms in defeat. "I wish there was more I could do."

"You've already been more than generous with me and I couldn't thank you enough for that." John cleared his throat. "It's time I set my affairs in order."

"I'm sorry Bates. It's a bloody business."

"There's nothing to be sorry for here but that I made decisions that have come back to haunt me." John shook his hand, "It's been an honor to work with you again sir."

"And for me Bates."

John turned to Anna, "We should go before we cause more of a disturbance here."

"Agreed."

He mounted his horse and Anna passed Lizzie up to him before mounting her own horse. They rode back to her house without much hurry and Anna took care of the horses as John took Lizzie into the house. She set the saddles in place and went to leave the barn when she heard something from a back corner.

Drawing her rifle she cocked it and moved toward the back of the barn. A loud crash alerted her and she turned the rifle to meet the chest of a trembling man. He backed into the wall and she held the barrel to his shirt.

"You'd best have a good reason for being here sir seeing as I didn't invite you and you're not a friend of mine dropping by for a visit."

"I'm here on orders from someone else."

"Who?" The dark-haired man trembled and Anna prodded him with the barrel. He flinched, sobbing as he held his hands higher. Anna repeated the question. "Who sent you?"

"My boss."

"And who's that?"

"He calls himself Harman."

Anna shook her head, "I don't know that name."

"He told me to come here, said he knows the place."

"Then when your Mr. Harman decides to make himself known, tell him to inquire about it with a knock to my front door instead of a little weasel like you skulking around my barn." She maneuvered to shove him toward the door. "That direction's the exit and I'll help you find it."

As they came out the doors Anna heard a shot and ducked back behind the door. She waited and then held her rifle up as she exited the doors to see dust rising just beyond her paddock. The man on horseback turned and she narrowed her eyes before firing at him.

He fell from his horse, hitting the ground just as John came to her side. "Are you alright?"

"I will be." Anna jerked her head behind her, "See if he's alright."

She hurried to the far side of the paddock as the man struggled to get back to his feet. When their eyes met Anna froze. "Alex?"

"Who's Alex?" He held his arm, checking over it as he backed toward his horse. "You shot me."

"What are you doing here?" She shook her head, cocking her rifle again, "You're supposed to be dead. Buried in whatever water marked grave that flood took you to."

"Flood?" He reached his horse, shaking his head. "You're mad woman."

"What are you doing here Alex?" Anna screamed, holding the rifle in shaking hands as she leveled it at him. "What do you want?"

"How do you know me?"

"I killed you." Anna whispered, "I killed you Alex Green."

"Is that my name then?" He swung into his saddle and grabbed his reins, hissing at the injury to his arm. "I guess that tells me something."

"Don't move or I'll shoot that horse out from under you before I make sure I blow your brains away this time."

He only laughed, "Little woman like you isn't anything but dirt on the bottom of my boot."

Anna went to fire but John caught the barrel. "He's the one who shot Matthew."

"Who?" Green drew his own gun and Anna brought hers up as well. "I guess I don't have to tell you that the man there isn't holding a weapon and even if you shoot me I've discovered I'm a good enough shot from this distance to put one between his eyes."

"I'm faster on the trigger." Anna warned but Green only laughed.

"It'd still be pulled." He kicked the horse, riding away.

Anna lowered the gun and let out a breath. John's hands came to her shoulders and she sagged against him. "It was him, John. Somehow he's alive and he's found his way back here."

"It'll be alright." John soothed, holding her. "We've got a bleeding man in the dirt we should see to."

Anna nodded, following John back to her porch where the man sat cradling his hand. John moved past him, going inside for the medical kit as Anna checked her gun. At the sound of it cocking again the man held up his injured appendage for her to see. "Bastard shot me in the gun hand. I'm useless now."

"Please keep your voice down and civil tongue in your head as I've a daughter in that house that needs neither." Anna held her rifle in an easy grip. "You said the person who sent you was named Harman?"

"That's what he said his name was."

"You didn't believe that?"

The man flailed, "From what we heard they'd found him in a ditch, half mad and soaking. Some flood'd carried him from who knows where and when the water stopped so did he. He had a gash on his head to fit the lump there and no memory of anything beyond some fuzzy details of this place."

"This ranch?" John returned, taking the man's hand and soaking it in water a moment before inspecting the wound.

"This town. He knew the name and mutter it in his sleep." The man scoffed, "He brought us here to scope the place and when he noticed there weren't that many men about he decided to make it worth the while and we took to stealing the cattle. Sold them at some good prices and should've moved on but he couldn't shake this place."

"When did you find him?" Anna drew his attention back to her and the man just shrugged.

"How should I know? That was before my time. Everything I know is third or fourth hand from the different crews that've passed along. We change you know."

"Then how long've you been riding with him?"

"Maybe six months."

"Is that when he got interested in this town?" Anna waited and the man frowned before shaking his head.

"No, that was about two weeks ago."

"Why?"

"How should I know? According to one of the men that rides with us he's been docile for four years and then we barely avoid a flash flood three weeks ago and it's like the man cracks. His brain's just not the same and he's always muttering to himself about things."

"What things?" Anna waited and then nudged the man with her gun. "What things?"

"Places, names, details it's like he's trying to remember but can't." The man let out a breath, "We should've left him for the coyotes or the Indians or something."

"What's your name?" Anna poked him again and the man scowled at her.

"Thomas Barrow."

"Congratulations Thomas Barrow," She smiled and he winced as John wrapped his hand tightly. "You've just taken a cell meant for someone else."

* * *

Anna leaned against the post on her porch, head back against it as the weaker wind of the night tried to cool the residual heat of the day. She turned as the wood creaked and saw John there. "All settled?"

"She's out faster than a light." John smiled and tucked his thumbs through his belt. "I don't suppose you've given any thought to tomorrow."

" _Take no thought for tomorrow. Sufficient for the day are the evils thereof_ , Mr. Bates." Anna let out a breath before sitting on the edge of her porch. "I'm trying not to think at all really."

"Because that Mr. Barrow says they've found someone who survived a flash flood and brought him into their gang?" John joined her, "It's probably just someone who's a dead ringer, nothing more."

"He's not a dead ringer, John." Anna shook her head, "That was Alex."

"Alex is dead, you told yourself."

"I told you what I knew which was that a man who took that kind of blow to the head and then washed away in a flood should be dead but I guess the will to live is strong for those not in a hurry to meet the devil."

"He's not going to trouble you Anna. He didn't even remember you."

"Barrow said he was remembering things."

"Doesn't mean he'll remember you."

Anna faced John, "I can't take that chance. Not with my little girl in the next room sleeping peacefully because she's never met her father."

"I'm here to help you Anna."

"Not after tomorrow." Anna pushed off the porch, walking toward the barn. "Tomorrow you're going inside that cell and that'll be it."

"Anna," John followed her inside the barn as they readied a saddle. "What are you doing?"

"I'm getting ready so we can leave at first light."

"We can't leave Anna."

"Yes we can and we're going to." She turned to him, "Mary gave me good advice today. She said that we needed to seize what we have and I can't do that if you're in a cell or dead."

"I'm still a wanted man."

"Then we ride north. We go to Canada and we live there." Anna put the saddle down. "I've got money and we'll make ourselves new people. We don't have to be who we are here. We can run anywhere we like and just go. We can be free."

"And always be looking over our shoulders?" John shook his head, walking toward her. "That'd ruin whatever it is you want to build with me. It'd ruin you."

"The only ruin I recognize, Mr. Bates, is the idea of living life without you." Anna pointed toward the house, now within touching distance of John. "The only ruin that little girl in there would recognize is being without you."

He put a hand to her cheek, "I couldn't ask you to risk that for me."

"You're not asking it of me." Anna took his other hand and placed it at her waist. "I'm offering it to you."

"I won't do anything unless you're sure, Anna."

She met his eyes, placing a hand over his heart. "I've never been surer of anything in my whole life."

The door to the nearest stall opened and John guided Anna into it. Flickering light from the closest lantern left them in an orange glow for what they could see and shadows where they could not. But all Anna needed was her fingers on his skin and his lips on hers to learn the rest.

It was slow, almost a measured dance, and Anna could not help but sigh at the tender touches he left over her skin. The way his hands skimmed the fabric of her clothing had her believing that perhaps he meant to replicate every part of the moment between them. And she would not stop him.

Hay scratched over her but the intensity of his gaze, the caress of his hands, and the smooth glide of his lips buried the discomfort. Anna lifted her leg to wrap over his hip, catching her skirt on his belt, and pulled him closer to her. The delicious weight settled over her and John paused to stare into her eyes.

"Are you sure?"

"Please John." Was all she could manage before he took her lips with his again.

Her struggle with the tie at his neck or the buttons of his vest of the strap of his belt failed to distract her from the shivers when he laid a trail of kisses down her throat. Or when he pulled her blouse apart to suck and lave the bodice supported breasts available to him. Or when his other hand slid up her thigh to brush the fabric of her knickers against her tingling nerves.

Anna moaned and John tugged the laces loose on her bodice to let it fall open. They both paused and Anna sat up enough to discard her clothing and John left his drift to the side. He positioned her, careful to take their clothing to lay it under her, and returned his attentions to her throat.

She sighed, basking in the memorization of his fingers on her skin and keened whenever he found her overly sensitive. Anna sent her fingers through his hair, enjoying the tickle of it in contrast to the coarser hair of his chest. He groaned, pausing just above an exposed nipple, when she brought her nails over the muscles working above her.

As she went to do it again her hands faltered, trembling at the tug of John's teeth and the suckling motions of his tongue over her breasts. Her hips rocked toward him and the hot presence of him slid over the skin of her thigh. Anna opened her legs wider at the tentative tease of his fingers above her hips.

John kissed down her stomach as he stroked a finger through her folds and then tweaked them in ever lengthening pulls. Her lungs felt empty, her head light, but it was all Anna could do not to give over to the pleasure. And when his fingers slipped inside her she nearly broke.

"You're so beautiful like this Anna." His voice was in her ear and Anna scrambled to find a grip around his shoulders to hold herself closer to him. "So free and unguarded. Please let me set you free."

"Yes." She sobbed under him, "Please."

A moment later Anna shattered, clenching around his fingers while leaving scars of her own over his shoulders. She settled back a moment, looking at John's face, and then pulled him to her. Their lips crashed together now, the earlier calm broken as she was.

"Please take me John." Anna rested her forehead on his, eyes closed to try and remember the feeling dying down in her blood. "Please take me."

Before she could comprehend reality John was inside her. Anna clutched her fingers into the muscle of his arms, holding herself still as they waited for her body to acclimate. When he tried to move Anna shook her head.

"Not yet."

And he waited. Waited until she lifted her hips and rocked against him. John kept his pace slow, moving so gingerly it left Anna aching. She skated a hand down his back and sunk her nails into the flesh of his ass. He stuttered and looked at her.

"Faster, please." His first move stayed slow but Anna shook her head, "Faster. I can't… it's too slow."

John forged ahead and soon Anna could register the tremor from the collide of their bodies. She tipped her head back and John's lips coated her neck and breasts in kisses. Her own fingers kneading at any part of his skin she could reach to hold herself steady in the midst of the rise coming to claim her body a second time.

Whatever intuition guided John had his fingers teasing at her nerves again and Anna writhed in response. Her second peak took her over just before the crash of his own. And as they both settled, bodies still shuddering and thrusting until all energy was spent, Anna held him close.

"Thank you." She whispered to his neck, "Thank you."

John adjusted, slipping free, and laid beside her. "For what?"

"I'd never…" Anna shook her head, "I'd never felt that before."

"I thought Green-"

"Alex never worried about me." Anna closed her eyes. "You're the first who's ever worried about me. Worried about Lizzie."

"I love you both."

Anna put a hand to John's face, "I can't lose you."

"You won't."

"Run away with me then?"

"Of course." John kissed her hand and then took a deep breath. "But I think, for now, we should be getting back to the little girl asleep in the house."

"Not before we've rinsed." Anna stood, "I don't want her thinking anything."

"Anna," John caught her hand, pulling her close to him, "People've already called me names, said horrible things about us, and I… I don't want you to regret anything you've done with me and if-"

"Mr. Bates," She put her finger over his mouth. "We're together for the moment, you and I, so can we not let that be enough for now?"

"Only if you're sure."

"I'm sure." Anna smiled, "I know now that I'm who I was always meant to be and that is by your side. Wherever that may lead."


	10. Blackest Hour

Anna opened her eyes, smiling as she felt John shift at her side. She turned, molding herself against him, and laid a hand over his heart. He quickly covered it with his own and blinked awake to smile at her.

"Good morning."

"I think so." She grinned and kissed him quickly as he shifted onto his side next to her, "I think we might have a bit before she wakes up."

"What'd you have in mind Ms. Smith?" John whispered against her skin, marking her neck with kisses. "Something salacious I hope."

"We'd have to be quiet."

"I'm sure I can keep quiet." His breath blew hot against her ear and Anna shivered as his hand dragged the material of her nightgown ever-so-slowly over her skin. "Can you?"

"I guess we'll see." Her breath hitched as his fingers caressed over the bare skin of her thighs.

Anna buried her head at his neck, exhaling harshly when he slotted one of his legs between hers to leave her open to him. The difference in the determination of his fingers was rather pronounced when he harbored no inhibitions about teasing and stroking her folds. She bit into his shoulder, trying to muffle the moans she was sure would wake the little girl sleeping in the bed mere feet from theirs, and arched her body toward him to soothe the rising tide within her.

John took a finger to open her, curling it inside Anna so she shivered against him, and added another when her panting breaths warmed the skin of his neck. But he did not anticipate her own hands seeking him. The contraction of his own lungs when her quivering hand wrapped around his growing erection gave them both pause.

She looked into his eyes and nodded as she slotted her leg up over his thigh to rest over his hip and bring his right to the welcoming heat of her entrance. A moment later John thrust forward and both parties sought to silence themselves in the lips of the other. Their bodies hummed with the energy and a moment later it was all Anna could do just to tilt her hips toward him instead of driving herself to oblivion at breakneck speed.

His hand held the back of her neck, manipulating their kiss to heighten the tension between them as they met as frantically and quietly as possible. Anna clung for dear life and sanity to his shoulders before her hand slipped for a better hold at his hip and then his ass. Her other hand found purchase in his hair, returning the fervor of his kisses, before skating her own line of them down his neck to stifle her whimpers and cries in the comfort of his shoulder.

With all the practice and finesse he could offer, John's other hand worked back between them to press and pinch at her nerves. Anna broke in his arms, sobbing into his skin, and John adjusted to thrust harder. Faster and faster until he finished and Anna shuddered at the rush deep within her as she sagged back onto the small mattress.

Both laid in silence a moment, Anna pricking her ears to listen for the regular breathing patterns from the bed next to her, and soon steadied their breathing to matching rhythms. John's hand swept Anna's hair back and she smiled at him. "I guess we were quiet enough."

"Let's both hope so." John kissed her forehead and settled back. "Though when do you want to tell her that we're all planning on running away together?"

"I didn't think you'd actually decided." Anna tugged her nightgown back in place and ensured the covers were high enough to keep John' covered from more innocent eyes than her own. "Do you want to run away with us?"

"I'd want nothing more than that." John sighed, resting back on the pillow. "We still need to take those horses to town. Settle that debt as it stands."

"They'll want you marched from the paddock right to the cell."

John frowned, "It'll be a bit cramped with Mr. Barrow holed up in there."

"I'm sure he won't present you any difficulties." Anna brushed a bit of John's hair back. "But I hope you don't mind a suggestion I'd like to make."

"What?"

"I think we should get married." John laughed and Anna swatted him, "I do hope you'll take this seriously Mr. Bates."

"You'd marry an outlaw?"

"You're more than that."

"Anna, think about it." John sat up a bit, taking the covers with him and sneaking a look over Anna's shoulder to where Lizzie had her head tucked under her blankets. "We can't."

"Don't you think I'm brave enough to stand against what people'd say?"

"I think you're the bravest person I've ever met but you shouldn't have to wear this."

"I'm already wearing it, given what Ms. Braithwaite accused us of yesterday, and what we've endured together thus far." Anna took a breath, sitting cross-legged next to him. "I've stood by you through thick and thin Mr. Bates."

"Thin and thin more like."

"Be that as it may," Anna cut in, "I won't have my daughter or myself be pushed to the sidelines while you endure whatever lies ahead without even the right to be kept informed. If you are to go to prison or to the hangman's noose I want to stand by you the way you've stood by me."

"Not like you've stood by me."

"Mr. Bates," Anna held his hands, "I will be your next of kin and I will be there for whatever you decide. I want it to be with me but I also understand that you've got a debt you need to pay and I'll respect that decision but I insist you respect this one."

John did not answer immediately. He put his hands on her face and made sure she stared into his eyes. "I'll respect whatever you decide."

"Thank you." She took her turn kissing his forehead before shrugging, "I guess it must all seem a bit unreal to you that I'd want this."

"It's about protection in a dangerous world." John lowered his voice, lips twitching up to smirk, "And if we're as successful as I think we might be, you'll need a father for the child."

"You've got an awful lot of confidence in yourself Mr. Bates."

"Or a lot of confidence in you."

They went to kiss again but stopped when the back of Anna's nightgown tugged downward. Both shifted to see Lizzie standing there, eyes blurry as she rubbed sleep from them. "Do I get to be the flower girl?"

"I'm sure we can arrange that." Anna lifted her onto the bed, worrying a moment before John adjusted the sheets about him. "It'd be lovely to have you as the flower girl."

"And Mr. Bates as Papa."

Anna hugged Lizzie closer, looking over at John, "And Mr. Bates as Papa."

* * *

Anna cracked her whip and the horses strayed from her through the open gate of the paddock. They crowded and the separated into their groups as Anna ensured none of them strayed into town. Lizzie, holding tight to the saddle horn of John's saddle, giggled and cried out as John herded the back end of the horses with a whip of his own.

A small crowd gathered as Anna pushed the gate closed and latched it to leave the horses milling about inside. She dusted her gloves on her saddle blanket before removing them and holding out her hands for Lizzie. The little girl dropped into her hold and both waited for John to dismount as well.

"I believe we've got a bit of business to complete." John took Lizzie's hand and they led their horses, with Lizzie swinging between them, toward the church.

Talbot, bent over and digging in the flower bed, stood up as they approached and wiped his hands on a small towel. "I hope you're no here for confession because I don't work that way."

"We're here to get married, Reverend." Anna left John to tie their horses to the hitching post and pointed to the flowers now removed from the beds. "Might Lizzie borrow those?"

"They're half dead but I guess the poetry and symbolism of that won't be lost on those gathered for this affair." Talbot straightened his collar ad reached for his black coat as it hung from a post by the building. "I think I could find a few choice words for the small gathering."

"Thank you." They all turned to enter the church as another horse rode up. Anna's eyes widened when Mary dismounted, her own expression freezing in shock at the sight of Anna, John, Lizzie, and Talbot. Talbot shook off the ice and extended a hand.

"Good morning Mrs. Crawley. How can I be of service?"

"I…" She found her voice after swallowing, "I came here to pray… and maybe find a bit of comfort if I could."

"There's always comfort here." Talbot led the group inside and offered Mary the front bench before pulling John to the side a moment.

Lizzie joined Mary on the bench and soon perched on Mary's lap while she arranged the slightly wilted flowers in her small hand. "Mummy's getting married to John today."

Mary raised an eyebrow of her own at Anna, "Moving things along rather quickly are we?"

"Not very."

"Then I think we've got different ideas about ideal courtship."

"I won't have convention deny me happiness." Anna tucked one of Lizzie's curls behind her ear. "Besides, you're the one who told me to seize the chance since it was right here in front of me. So that's what I'm doing, seizing this chance."

"I meant to take him and Lizzie here and ride for Mexico or Canada or even the Dakota territories or someplace where people aren't going to bother hunting down homesteaders."

"We're making the decisions that seem best to us." Anna stood as Talbot and John returned. "I do hope that wasn't your attempt to talk Mr. Bates out of this decision, Preacher."

"On the contrary." Talbot smiled and offered a hand to Lizzie, "If I could have the flower girl stand here a moment."

Lizzie hopped from Mary's lap and followed him. She chose three flowers at his urging and then clutched the rest tightly, taking her duty very seriously. Talbot broke the stem from one to tuck it into john's button hole before tucking the other into Anna's hair.

"And this one," He twisted it quickly and handed it to John, "Will serve as the ring."

"I'd give you a nicer one if I had it." John whispered but Anna quieted him.

"This one is far ore appropriate for us." Anna turned to Talbot, "We're ready Mr. Talbot."

"Then, dearly beloved, we gather together to bring John Bates and Anna Smith into a union that until last until death do them part."

The remainder of Talbot's words, lost in the buzz of the rising heat outside the little chapel, only soothed Anna. Almost the same way John sliding the flower ring over her finger did. Or the way he kissed her as sweetly and as innocently as a couple who courted under the watchful eye of a protective community might of the room had been full of flowers and guests.

When they finished Anna, and then John, shook Talbot's hand. He nodded to them, bending to shake Lizzie's hand as well before taking the dying flowers back, and stepped to the side as Anna hugged Mary. They pulled away and Mary wiped at a tear in her eye.

"I'm not overly emotional but this… this was lovely."

"Thank you Mary." Anna turned to John, "Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

They walked hand-in-hand from the chapel to the Sheriff's office. Lizzie, clutching at her mother's hand, sniffed but said nothing. Before they ascended the steps, John lifted Lizzie into his arms and held her close. It was as a family, newly minted, that they walked into the Sheriff's office.

Alfred, in all his lanky gangliness, stood up so fast he knocked his knee against the desk and disturbed both Barrow in his cell and Gwen as she stood guard over the other man and his consumption of whatever porridge she gave him. Anna took Lizzie from John as he walked over to Alfred and held his arms toward him with upturned wrists. "I'm here to turn myself in, as promised."

Anna noted the way Gwen and Alfred exchanged looks before Alfred scratched at the back of his head. "You see, Mr. Bates, we've had a bit of a situation develop since you delivered Mr. Barrow here to our custody last night. One that I don't think is so easily rectified."

John frowned, "I'm not sure I understand."

"You see Mr. Bates," Gwen stepped forward, "The people of the town noted your actions and they've realized the precarious state of our generally male-less nature. They find themselves comparing the weight of two possible evils and you're on the lower end."

"Not something I've ever been accused of being before."

Anna snorted a laugh with Gwen as the other woman regained her composure. "It's the feeling of this town that, until Sheriff Carson returns, we're in need of a man with your capabilities."

"Are you?" John looked at Alfred, "What about Deputy Nugent here?"

"I find I'm in need of a bit of assistance." Alfred pointed toward the cell, "With what Mr. Barrow's been saying I'll have to take him out on a short leash to try and round up the rest of his crew. But if they scatter then I'll need help tracking them down. There's only one of me and someone's got to protect this town."

"The women of this town seem uniquely qualified for it." John nodded toward Gwen, "They've got a very she-bear instinct about what's best for the people here."

"And that instinct's telling us that we need to trust you, Mr. Bates." Gwen offered her hand, "I hope you'll forgive the words we've said in fear."

"They were valid and completely justified." John shook her hand and then stepped back. "What would I be doing, in service to Downton?"

"Ms. Smith here'll act as a deputy in keeping an eye on you when you're not out riding off cattle stealers or bringing them here." Alfred turned to Anna, "If you'll accept the temporary position Ms. Smith."

"It's Mrs. Bates, actually."

"My apologies," Alfred stuttered a moment before shrugging, "Will you take the position, Mrs. Bates?"

"I'd be honored." Anna turned to Barrow. "And what about him?"

"He's agreed to help us as much as he's able so Ms. Dawson and I'll be taking him out on trips to round up the stragglers."

"Is anyone else going with you?"

"We're taking volunteers but most here want to protect what's theirs and I don't blame them." Gwen squared her shoulders. "We've got to carry on as best we can in the interim."

"Which is why your work'll be so crucial Mr. Bates." Alfred cleared his throat. "We need you keeping these people safe. I figure since you were something close to what you're hunting you might have a clue how they think and operate."

"I've got a few clues." John let out his breath, "Is that it then?"

"I think we've resolved the issues before us on that count." Gwen faced Anna, "Now about those horses."

* * *

"Ms. Lizzie I'll ask you to please finish feeding those horses before it's too dark to see." Anna called into the barn, "I don't want to have to do it when Mr. Bates gets back."

"But he's been gone so long."

"It's been a week, Ms. Lizzie, not that long." Anna pointed toward the horses, "Finish your chores please."

"I'm doing it." The little girl lugged a bucket in her shaking arms.

"Good." Anna smiled, "Be careful with it and I'll get supper started."

"Yes Mummy."

Anna went toward the house removing her boots at the door and padding into the kitchen with her basket to lay it on the table. Something shifted in the corner and Anna stopped, pricking her ears toward the sound. She frowned and barely turned back to her work when a backhand knocked her to the floor.

She fell hard on her side, the wind knocked from her lungs as a weight settled on her stomach and a hand gripped about her neck to stop her making noise. Her eyes focused and the icy terror that washed over her body left her trembling in the hard grip. His face dipped toward hers, his calloused thumb scratching over her jaw as he spoke.

"Hello Anna."

"What are you doing here?"

"I remembered this is my home." He removed his hand, running it over her body in a way that made her sick to even endure. "This is my wife."

"I'm not yours." She hissed back, trying to kick herself free but his leg interlocked with hers to keep it straight and useless. "You died."

"No, I survived." He laughed, sliding back to her throat to hold her still while he moved chapped lips over her skin. "I endured what you did to me. When you clubbed me to the ground and thought I was dead."

"I thought that flood was an act of God to free me from you."

"You think He would free you after you tried to kill me?"

"What about what you did to me?" Anna wrenched her neck from his grip and practically spit at him as she beat his sides with her hands until he grabbed one and adjusted his knee to press her other elbow painfully to the floor.

"Just marital right."

"You had no right to abuse me as you did. To take from me like I was your horse to be broken."

"I guess I didn't do a very good job then, did I?"

Anna summoned the rage she could manage and twisted her body to shove him off her. His weight toppled and Anna finally noticed why his grip seemed so uneven. The arm she shot on his last visit hung as a stump from his shoulder. He noted her gaze and lifted it, the tied shirttail flapping.

"Admiring your handiwork."

"I wish I didn't have to admire it if I'd done a good enough job the first time beating you to death with that rifle." Anna moved away from him, eyeing for her rifle in the corner. "I wouldn't have to take you apart a piece at a time."

"You had such fire when you fought back then. Denying the inevitable." Green sneered at her, "You were just property to be bought and sold."

"It's only a sale if the other side gets something in return and, as I recall, you reneged on your deal with my father." Anna flicked her eyes to the side, measuring the distance.

"He was weak."

"And you're a bastard." Anna rested on the tips of her toes. "But it's all in the past now."

"I'm your future Anna." He reached out toward her, "I'm here to stay."

"No you're not." Anna dived for the rifle but Green caught her around the middle and drove her to the floor.

She struggled and fought but his elbow caught her about the head and Anna fell back, dazed. Her body grappled with his as his one hand fought to control her. Another strike knocked the air from Anna's lungs and she screamed without sound as darkness closed about her.


	11. Symmetry of the Cemetery

A bang broke through the noise and Anna's lungs could finally expand. Green's body tumbled to the side and another shot left him laying on the floor, blood seeping into the floorboards. She crawled away from him and felt arms wrap around her from the side. When she turned and saw john there Anna collapsed into him.

"It's alright Anna." He held her close, pulling her to her feet and out of the house before shutting the door behind them. "It's alright."

"He tried… He was…" Anna held at the tatters of her clothes but John whipped his coat off to cover her. "He came…"

"I know." John soothed, "I'm going to take care of it."

He lifted her into his arms and carried her to the barn where his horse still stood saddled and ready. John helped Anna into his saddle and then called out. "Lizzie, it's John. You can come out now. It's safe."

Anna grabbed the saddle horn and tried to dismount but John kept her aloft. "She's alright.'

"Where is she? Did he see her?"

"She's fine." John bent down as Lizzie climbed out of a stack of hay bales and ran to him. "See she's well."

"Mummy, are you alright?" Lizzie reached up for her mother and Anna pulled her close.

"I'm-" Anna just buried her head in Lizzie's curls, holding her close and rocking into her as John mounted behind them and steered the horse out of the barn.

"John told me to hide myself where no one would find me and keep very quiet." Lizzie wrapped her arms around Anna, retruning the squeeze. "I hid in the hay and no one found me."

"You did an excellent job Lizzie." John patted a hand over her curls, fingers brushing over Anna's. "You made us very proud."

They rode as fast as John could take them to the Crawleys but Anna barely noticed the confusion on Moseley's face when John helped both of his charges dismount. She kept Lizzie close to her body, the coat wrapping around them both, as John shuffled them inside. It was not until Mary's hand came to her shoulder that she even registered another human being.

"What does she need?"

"A bath, new clothes, and the doctor." John turned to Anna, "I'm going back to make sure he's either dead or hogtied."

Anna could only nod as John hurried out of the house and Mary extricated Lizzie from her mother's arms. "Lizzie, George and Sybbie are feeling rather lonely in the nursery. Would you keep them company while I help your mother get a bath?"

Lizzie turned her face to her mother, who could only nod once, and then scampered off as Baxter approached. "I've got hot water set on the stove to boil and I can get a bedroom ready for Mrs. Bates and her daughter."

"Thank you Baxter." Mary put an arm around Anna's shoulders. "Come on, we'll just take the stairs slowly."

In the bathroom Anna, with Mary's help, removed the shreds of her clothing and left them in a pile. Mary helped Anna into the bath and dug around for a medical kit until they heard a knock at the door. She cracked it and Anna could heard the muffled announcement of the doctor before Mary closed the door again.

"Doctor Clarkson's here to… make sure nothing's broken."

Anna nodded and held up a hand for Mary to lift her from the tub. Her limbs ached and even in the stark light of the room she could already see her skin coloring to bruise. With a tight grip on Mary's hand she worked into borrowed clothing, cinched tight around her smaller frame, and exited the washroom.

In the borrowed bedroom Anna closed her eyes and tried to keep still as Doctor Clarkson examined her with the utmost care. After what felt like an eternity he stepped back and sighed. "Nothing's broken Mrs. Bates and while you'll definitely have your fair share of bruises and soreness you'll body'll heal within a week."

"What about…" Anna bit her lip and turned to Mary.

Doctor Clarkson frowned, "I don't understand."

"She wants to know if there's any damage to her more private areas, doctor."

"I'll freely admit I'm not as versed in trauma to that region as I should be but I can check and give it the diagnosis I can." He paused, "It won't be complete but it's what I can offer."

"It'll be enough, Doctor." Mary gripped Anna's hand and helped roll the skirt up before sitting to face Anna. "He's going to make sure you're alright."

Anna nodded, trying to relax as her body contracted under the Doctor's scrutiny, and then heaved a sigh of relief when he stepped back and helped Mary lower the skirt again. "What do you say Doctor?"

"That everything seems alright. There's been some trauma to the area but I can't find any traces of severe damage so I don't think he raped you."

"Thank you Doctor." Anna sat up in bed as Doctor Clarkson left and faced Mary. "Thank you for letting me come here."

"You're the manager of my father's property and my friend, it's truly nothing to offer what we can give." Mary held one of Anna's hands in both of hers. "You're welcome here for as long as you need it."

"Do you know if John's back yet?"

"I can go and check." Mary stood, putting a hand to Anna's shoulder. "I shouldn't worry too much about him. Mr. Talbot's with him and by now either Mr. Green's dead or he's in their care."

"He should already have been dead." Anna leaned back against the headboard, shutting her eyes. "He was dead."

"So we all hoped." Mary did not speak immediately and Anna opened her eyes to see her wringing her hands.

"What?"

"You never told me how it happened." Mary quickly held up her hands, "And I'm not asking you for details now and I don't want them unless you want to share them but I know you wouldn't have asked Doctor Clarkson to do what he did if Green hadn't done it before."

Anna nodded, "He took his marital right more than once."

"Then Lizzie's…" Another nod. "If Green's alive, do we have to worry about your marriage to Mr. Bates being invalid?"

"If he is alive then he won't be for long." Anna breathed out, "He's the one who shot Matthew, Mary. He attacked me and would've killed me had I continued fighting. He's not long for this world."

"The issue still stands."

"My marriage to him ended with a death certificate I wanted to frame and hang on my wall." Anna took a deep breath to calm herself, "He'd have to contest it and since he can't then it's of no consequence. Alex Green, the horrible man I knew for too long a time as my husband, is dead. This other man, even if he has the same name or those memories, isn't my husband anymore. My husband's name is John Bates and he's been a better father to my daughter and better husband to me than Alex Green ever was."

"That's argument enough for me." Mary frowned, "When he washed away in that flood, why didn't he see it coming like you did and save himself?"

"He was unconscious because I'd clubbed him in the head with a rifle."

Mary's eyes widened to match her approving smile, "Well, well, Anna Smith, you're a woman of a great many skills and talents."

"I try." Anna settled back on the bed, "Could you send Lizzie in and check on John?"

"Of course." Mary left the room and Anna closed her eyes as her body's complaints of pain ascended to a dull ache throughout her frame.

The door cracked and she opened her eyes to the patter of small feet running over the floor before the bed under her creaked with the change in weight. Lizzie cuddled close to her mother and Anna clung to her in a tight embrace. They were silent for a few moments before Lizzie adjusted to see her mother's face.

"Are you alright Mummy?"

"Just sore." Anna brushed away Lizzie's curls, noting the way they glowed brown like her father's. "Are you alright?"

"I am now."

"You were very brave to listen to John."

Lizzie nodded quickly, "I told him I heard noises from the house and he told me to hide. I was scared but I did it anyway and I waited."

"I'm proud of you." Anna hugged her before they settled on their sides. "You are the most precious thing to me."

"More precious than John?"

"More precious than John." Anna stroked over her daughter's cheek, "But he thinks you're the most precious thing too so we're of the same mind."

"He loves me a lot."

"Yes he does."

"Almost as much as he loves you." Lizzie snuggled by her mother, small hands scrunching the fabric of the too large blouse Anna wore. "He keeps us safe."

"Yes he does." Anna rested her chin on Lizzie's head.

The creak of the door and the pinpoint of light woke Anna. She squinted, trying to fight past the sleep that pulled her back into its hold and sighed to see John there. He tiptoed over the floor, setting the lantern to the side, and sat on the side of the bed away from the snoring Lizzie. With a finger pointed toward her and no questions asked Anna nodded and he sighed.

She covered his hand with hers. "Alex?"

"Doctor Clarkson pulled the bullets from his shoulder and chest so he'll live, for now." John brought Anna's hand to his lips and kissed it. "What about you?"

"I'm sore all over." Anna scooted as much as she dared. "Join us?"

"She's asleep and I don't want to disturb her."

"I need you here tonight John." Anna pleaded, "I need you to protect us."

John nodded and in a moment, divested of most of his clothes, he wrapped around Anna with a hand reaching over to rest on Lizzie's head. "I'm so sorry Anna."

"For what?"

"I never wanted anything to happen to you."

Anna shifted enough to see him over her shoulder and put a gentle hand over his lips. "You saved me John. Whatever else happened didn't matter because you were there. You saved me."

"I love you Anna," His eyes teared and Anna kissed him to try and dry his eyes before the tears could escape and risk the dam breaking for her as well.

"I love you too." Anna turned from Lizzie to tuck herself at John's side.

He pulled her close until they both felt Lizzie climb between them. She grumbled in her sleep, settling into the space between them, and fell right back asleep. John kissed her head, Anna following his example, and intertwined their hands over her.

"It'll be alright now." John whispered and Anna nodded.

"Now that you're here."

* * *

Anna squinted at the hangman's noose and startled when a hand rested on her shoulder. She let out a breath when she saw Talbot, raising his hands in apology, and let out a breath. "My thoughts were elsewhere, Mr. Talbot."

"It's a heavy weight to bear I'm sure." Talbot nodded toward the noose. "I'm sure there are many people who wish they never saw one."

"I'd think so as well except I heard stories where it was a form of public entertainment." Anna shuddered, "How can I help you Preacher?"

"I'm here on behalf of the accused's last confession." Talbot grimaced, "He's requested to see you before his sentence is carried out."

"Am I entitled to refuse?"

"You can do whatever you feel is right but I'd advise you meet with him. For your soul if not for his."

"I'm sure my soul's resolved on this matter Mr. Talbot."

"There's darkness in what he is and what he's done but we must exorcise that darkness from ourselves." He shrugged, "It's your decision but I believe it'd bring peace to your soul if you could see your demons will be destroyed."

Anna waited, turning over her shoulder to see John holding Lizzie on the top rail of the paddock and pointing to the few remaining horses before nodding. "I think I should. For her sake if not for mine."

Talbot led Anna to the Sheriff's office. Mrs. Hughes sat at Alfred's desk, her arms crossed over her chest and a scowl permanently etched onto her face. She flicked her eyes toward Anna and Talbot as they entered before returning to her charge.

Anna frowned, "Where's Alfred?"

"He and Ms. Dawson took Mr. Barrow to find the last hold outs of Mr. Green's little group." Mrs. Hughes snorted, "The degenerates and detritus of this life just waiting to be gathered and disposed of."

"Has he said anything about them?" Talbot came toward Mrs. Hughes but the woman shook her head.

"He's been silent since you left Preacher." Mrs. Hughes stood, "If only he'd been as courteous when he was a free man."

"You always were a self-righteous and judgmental old bitch." Green hissed at Mrs. Hughes. "I guess you couldn't handle the reality that time's already passed you by."

"I do hope you burn in Hell, Mr. Green." Mrs. Hughes walked out of the office as Talbot brought Anna a chair, well out of reach of the cell.

"Mr. Green, sentence has already been passed on you and there's no avoiding it now. But God forgives those who come to Him with a broken heart and contrite spirit."

"You think God's going to forgive someone like me, Reverend?"

"I think He'd prefer you come to Him repentant and contrite but all I can do is invite you to find the peace such a decision will bring. Peace in the face of uncertainty and death."

"My death is certain." Green turned to Anna, "Unless she recants her statement."

"I told the truth."

"Not all of it." He taunted, the tied off shirt on his stump of an arm wagging back and forth. "You didn't tell the part where you tried to kill me."

"The time's past for those kinds of things." Talbot cut in, "I'm here to give you a chance to set some things right. To realize your mistakes and approach God with penitence."

"You're wasting your time." Green spat, leering at Anna. "She'd never come here if she thought I'd actually apologize to her because she and I both know it'll never happen."

"Because you've always been a shit person and you were a shit husband." Anna stood, "I'm glad to be rid of you and that I'll know for sure this time."

Green laughed, "You're going to tell me that old man keeps you happy?"

"He makes me very happy and he loves my daughter."

"Daughter?" Green chortled, "What poor bastard did you seduce into your bed to get yourself a child?"

"She's yours." Anna watched Green's face contort. "She doesn't know you and she never will. The only father she needs is the father she has in John."

"You've denied me my daughter?"

"I've denied you what you don't deserve. Now or ever." Anna jabbed her finger at him. "I can't wait to hear your neck snap for what you've done to me. What you were going to do to me. And mostly for what you might've done to her."

"You tried to kill me!"

"I'd tear your heart out with my bear hands if it protected that girl from you." Anna tried to slow her heavy breathing. "I'm done with you and all you represent."

"You'd just leave, after all we had?" Green struggled to stand, reaching out between the bars with his arm. "You'd leave me to die?"

"As I said," Anna stood taller, "I'd kill you a piece at a time if I needed to. I'm just glad the hangman can do it with a short drop and a sudden stop."

She turned to the door, "Goodbye Alex."

Whatever other arguments he had for her were lost when she walked back into the sunlight. Anna rejoined John and Lizzie, admiring the horses as the crowd gathered for the hanging. John, keeping an eye on it, lowered Lizzie to the ground and they walked away from it all.

Anna noted the echoing snap over the distance but did not turn around. They walked instead toward the cemetery and Lizzie left a bunch of flowers at Matthew's grave before Anna led her to another stone. John stepped to the side as Anna crouched down to direct Lizzie's attention to the stone.

"That's your father's stone Lizzie."

"But I thought John was my father." Lizzie's forehead furrowed and she turned over her shoulder to John. "He's my Papa."

"He is now and that's all that matters." Anna stood, taking Lizzie's hand. "Your father died today Lizzie and I wanted you to know that."

"I'll never meet him?"

"No, you won't." Anna paused, "Did you want to?"

Lizzie shook her head, "No. He's not my real father anyway."

Anna smiled, looking over at John. "No, he wasn't."

* * *

Anna leaned over the fence and smiled when she felt John at her back. "Is she asleep?"

"Yes." He kissed her neck. "One minute she's chattering away about why she thought Cinderella was very forgetful and the next she was snoring into her pillow."

"She loves that you read to her." Anna tipped her head to the side, closing her eyes to enjoy John's lips skating over her skin.

"I enjoy reading to her so I guess it's a good match." He paused near her ear, "How are you, after it all?"

"I still wake up in the night but he's gone now so his shadow won't hang over my head any longer." Anna rested back on his shoulder. "Life's going to start again and he won't be any more than bad memories."

John was silent but Anna sensed his hands snaking over her waist and around her hips. "Could I give you a good memory for today?"

"What kind of memory?"

"The kind that you won't forget." He trilled in her ear before lifting her skit at the back. "The kind we shouldn't share with Lizzie."

Anna shivered when the air hit her bare skin and the whisper of gliding fabric tickled at her. "Yes I think we should wait to share these kinds of things with her."

"Very wise." John growled by her ear and Anna dug her hands into the wooden gate in front of her as his fingers teased and taunted at the crux of her thighs. "May I proceed Anna?"

"Please do."

Within moments her knuckles whitened on the wood while John's fingers maneuvered over her. When they curled inside her Anna cried out to the barren countryside and tried not to shriek as John drove her higher. As she crested the wave Anna slumped forward to the tune of John's clinking belt buckle and the firm grip of his hands at her hips, bunching the skirt over his hands.

"You're so ready Anna." He murmured, igniting her sparking nerves with the faint brushes of his arousal against her already swollen and sensitive nerves.

"Don't stop John."

He drove forward and Anna arched her back to further impale herself. They rested only a second before John set a punishing pace. His fingers dug to the edge of pain into her hips but Anna set herself to meet each and every one of his thrusts with her hips.

With her ass cradled between his hips, it was all Anna could do to focus as John teased kisses across the back of her neck in time with his drives. The gate creaked with their movements and Anna surrendered her hold there to dig under her own skirt for relief. One of John's hands covered hers and they pinched, prodded, and pressed her to the next climax. Mere moments later, with frenetic urgency, John joined her there.

His arms came under hers, holding the gate as they slumped together. He kissed at her neck before restoring enough of their modesty to risk returning to the house. Anna stopped him before the door, kissing him as deeply as she could until she broke away for air.

"I hope you realize you're the only man I've ever loved, Mr. Bates. The only man I ever want as father to my daughter. And the only person who's ever loved me."

"Anna," He skimmed a thumb over her cheekbone. "I'd love you until the end of time itself if I could and I will."

"Then we're suitably matched." Anna pulled him inside, "Now to bed or we'll never rise in the morning."

"I'm always risen in the morning."

"Mr. Bates." Anna chided, "That kind of talk is beneath you."

"I stand corrected." He grinned, "Because I'd rather you be beneath me."

"Or perhaps you'll be beneath me." Anna teased and noted the choking sound John managed. "I guess you'll just have to wait and see."


	12. The Burnin'

Anna supported her head on her hand and watched John's face. He cracked an eye open and frowned, "Did you have a nightmare?"

"No, I had… questions."

"What kind of questions?"

She turned over her shoulder toward Lizzie's bed. "Not here." They left their bed for the sofa, curling together under a quilt as Anna found her question again. "What drove you to leave Vera?"

"Worried I'll leave you?"

"No," Anna shook her head against his chest. "I just wonder what drove you to her and then away."

"So it's a question of my character?"

"I guess." Anna lifted her head up, "I remember asking you, when you first took refuge in my barn, why you left the Army for Vera."

"I got discharged from the Army and then found Vera." John sighed, "I was looking for something, a way to find purpose in my life, and then she came to the ranch where I was breaking horses. We just…"

"Got along like a house on fire?"

"She was Irish and my family was Irish so we had a decent bit in common in the beginning of it all." John shrugged, "I guess we found ourselves a bit too caught up in what we thought we shared but not enough about what we wanted to build together."

"When did she decide that she wanted to risk everything and become a bank robber?"

"Technically she's a destroyer of worlds but I doubt she'd distinguish between the two."

"You're avoiding the question." Anna teased, poking at his side.

John laughed, twitching away from her. "She was never satisfied with the idea of living a simple life in a small house or seeking those little joys in life."

"But you want that?"

"After I left the Army and joined her I didn't. I didn't like the idea that I'd let life take over me. I didn't want to lose myself to the life that claimed my parents and the thrill of taking from others to live on their gain was intoxicating."

"I could see the appeal."

"I was selfish and foolish." John adjusted on the sofa, "But it took me a long time to see it. When you've let yourself tumble down the slippery slope you don't realize you're where you are until you reach the bottom. There, when you're looking up at the sky, you finally see how far you fell."

Anna lifted herself from his chest and sat cross-legged beside him. "When was that?"

"I told you that I planned to steal the cash deposit for Kirby out from under her right?"

"I remember."

"It was before that. We were near Ripon and we ran afoul of some Buffalo Soldiers. They chased us all over Texas but we finally lost them in some foothills when we found something else." John shuddered, "There was a woman, covered in blood, sitting in the middle of a room."

"Do I need to ask what was in the room?"

John shook his head, "No. Just know that the story the woman told us was that she and her family'd been attack by Indians but I'd scuffled with the Indians native to that area when I served in the Army and I knew she was lying. They didn't carve people the way these people were tortured."

"What happened to the woman?"

"Vera welcomed her into the group. Then, with her at her side, she and the rest of the posse decided to take their revenge on those Buffalo Soldiers by attacking the settlement where all their women and children lived." John's jaw hardened, "I don't know if her reason snapped when she saw that woman and realized she could sink deeper into the mire but whatever it was I saw just what she was."

John looked into the corner for a moment, "It was like a lightning strike. A moment of sudden clarity after years of drinking with her, sleeping with her, and seeking the thrill of that kind of life with her. I couldn't bear it any longer and I knew I needed to leave."

"But you couldn't just leave?"

"She would've hunted me to the ends of the earth because if there's one thing worse than being loved by Vera it was being hated by her." John's voice softened, "What she did to the Buffalo Soldiers' families told me that."

"That's when you planned to rob her?"

"I thought that she'd follow me and I could set a trap for her." John gave a bitter laugh, "My arrogance in my abilities and my ignorance of her told me I was wrong."

"But you stole from her anyway?"

John nodded, "I stole the money and rode away. She followed and we had our little shoot out. Then I circled back and gave the money back to the people at Kirby."

"Did she circle back as well?"

"I don't know if she saw what I did or anticipated it because she knew I was always using my 'big, bleeding heart' as she called it. Whatever she did and however she did it, she took out her anger with me on that town and I barely got away."

"Coming here." Anna sighed, "Do you still think she's out there?"

"Since we haven't received anything to the contrary I think she is. Weaving her way to and fro like a snake looking for something."

"Looking for you?"

John flailed a hand, "I don't know anymore. I would've thought she'd work in an obvious pattern but I guess she's decided that logic isn't something for her. Or maybe she really can't read a map and she's lost them all in some godforsaken corner of the desert and they're all bones."

"May we pray that's the case."

"I don't think we get to be that lucky." John took a breath, "Have I sated your curiosity?"

"I hope you don't think that's what this was."

"I think it was a legitimate concern about the possible murderous tendencies of the man you married." John brushed a bit of her hair back, "Though we probably should've had this conversation before we decided to get married. It might've changed your mind about me."

"I think the person who risked a place in my barn despite the threat that I would shoot him in the head is the same man sitting on my sofa right now." Anna bit her bottom lip, "And the man to whom I'd like to fulfill a promise I made."

John frowned, "What promise?"

"I promised you'd be beneath me." Anna pressed John down so he lay back on the sofa and straddled his waist before drawing her nightgown over her head. "I'll assume that I know what I'm doing since I've ridden a horse before."

She grinned when he could not respond and shifted to pull at his pants. "Though I'm a bit curious about something and I wonder, if you're open to it, if I should try it."

"What?" John choked when Anna dropped his pants on her nightgown.

"If I do this," Anna's hand wrapped around his erection and squeezed, "Do you feel alright?"

All John could do was groan and Anna placed her other hand over his mouth. "There's a little girl sleeping in the other room and now is not the time for her to discover how she came into this world."

His hips jerked when she squeezed again and his hand covered hers. With his grip guiding her, Anna released her hold on his mouth and set her lips to tracing a line over his neck. John's other hand covered his own mouth to muffle his noises when Anna continued.

For all their combine experience together Anna had yet to truly enjoy him. Green had never taken time with her, seeking a quick fix at the point of violence when he wanted it, and leaving her shamed and sore. John responded to the minutest of reactions and whispers of pleasure with her, chasing them to their conclusions. But she had yet to experience the same with him.

She wanted that to change.

Her experience was not the same as his but her enthusiasm could not be argued and she wanted to use it. Anna wanted to tease him to the point of no return, to drive him to distraction, to help him release as he did her. If they both promised to honor one another then she would honor her husband the best way she knew how.

John's hand trembled over hers when Anna risked her second hand as an anchor to the weight under his erection while her lips mapped his chest. She knew the territory, could even imagine her tongue dipped into the indentations she left there on previous occasions, but this was different. This time she listened for his hitches in breathing, his full-body shudders, and his barely muffled moans of pleasure.

Just as Anna found a rhythm John's hands came to her shoulders and held there a moment. She looked up and noted him heaving for air before he could speak. "You don't… it's not-"

"May I?"

His head went back on the sofa when she risked a kiss to the base of him. His fists clenched when she licked around him. His teeth bit into the back of his hand when she took him in her mouth.

In terms of competency Anna would not give herself much credit in this regard. Her own skills aside her inexperience almost made her overenthusiastic and when her teeth scraped a bit harder than she anticipated John grunted. Anna released him, sitting back almost immediately.

"I'm sorry."

"No," John shook his head, the perspiration dotting there shining a bit in the low light. "It was… it was better than I imagined."

"I don't-"

John leaned up, his hands soothing over her arms, "It was wonderful, Anna. I enjoyed it."

"Really?"

"Every bit of it." He gently tugged her forward so she sat on his stomach and he sculpted his hands up her thighs. "Did you?"

"I don't think I'm very good at it."

"I didn't ask that." John tipped her back to rest on his drawn up knees and dragged her forward. "I asked if you enjoyed it."

"I want to do it again."

"Then would you mind," John kissed the inside of one thigh and then the other, "If I found out if you like something?"

"What?" Anna barely had time to register if John verbalized an answer before his tongue and fingers went to work.

Her nails dug rivulets into his ass as she clung there for support while his lips sucked and caressed over her nerves. And she choked on her own groans, trying to keep silent as John's fingers and tongue worked an extraordinary duet on her folds and entrance. When he curled his fingers inside her, drawing in and out in time with the suckling kisses he laid over her, Anna tore herself back from the edge.

The confusion written over John's face faded into his own expression of pleasure as Anna slid over him. Her hands rested on either side of his head and his went to her hips when she rocked on him. She tried to kiss his grin away but he only whispered in her ear.

"I thought you could ride Anna."

At that she worked him like she would a horse. John's hands and lips were not idle, seeking to leave their own marks over her chest the way she had over his, in his attempt to draw her to finish. But Anna finally found the moment when she twisted just right. It sent her into an ending spiral and John's hips thrusting to meet hers soon had him following.

Their bodies hiccupped to a stop, finishing with Anna draping herself over him. John's hands soothed and smoothed over her back while she rose and fell in time with his breathing pushing her on his chest. Eventually she raised her head and ran her hand through his hair to push it back from his face.

"I think, Mr. Bates, that was something we should try again."

"I look forward to it Mrs. Bates." He kissed her, "But I think, for now, we should get ourselves to bed."

As they sorted themselves out, Anna stopped with the quilt dangling over her arm. "You never said what happened to that woman."

"Which woman?" John frowned and Anna hurried to explain.

"The one who helped Vera slaughter those people."

"She became Vera's right hand." John scratched at the back of his head, "I guess that was the moment she realized we'd parted ways as well."

"How'd you mean?"

"Before O'Brien Vera and I were a pair. Like you said, when we first met, we were practically married. I was everything to her as she was to me. It was toxic and deadly but we reveled in it. Reveled in drinking to excess, in chasing down impossible grabs in deadly attempts, and in one another. But only physically."

"You'd mentioned it was all about lust and greed."

"Just two of the deadly sins I remember more vividly." John shook his head. "I think, without realizing it, we were holding one another back. I wanted to change how we did things and she wanted to seek the next big thing. It's like we'd looked into the abyss without realizing and I wanted to step back but she didn't it."

"This was before you'd met…" Anna tried to remember the name, "O'Brien?"

"Yes." John made circles in the air with his hands as if he wanted to conjure up the perfect metaphor. "It's like the pull you get in a stream that warns you of a current or a rapid ahead. If you ignore it then you'll have to face the rapids but if you mind it you can avoid them completely."

"You ignored your current?"

"I ignored everything until I saw what meeting that woman did to Vera." John put up a hand, "I won't claim that I ever loved Vera as it cheapens the word and betrays the truth of what we were. But I didn't want to lose her because she was all I knew. She had become, for good or ill, everything to me and I couldn't lose that."

"But you did?" Anna set the quilt on the sofa, tracing its pattern absentmindedly as she listened.

"That was the point of no return, when I saw what she was and knew I couldn't go that road any longer. I'd take it as far as my conscience would allow without breaking me and I didn't want to be broken. Not like she let herself be."

Anna walked to John, putting a hand on his arm, "I'm glad you stepped back."

"Me too." He covered her hand, "For all the risk it is, I wouldn't trade it for the world."

"Me either."


	13. Nowhere You Belong

Anna squinted and then shook her head, "I don't think you could use this land for crops. I can already see too many stones to adequately plow here and with the ground as it is you'll end up breaking your machinery before you get anything. More to the point, if you're sinking a well here you can't plant anyway."

"What about grazing land." Mr. Crawley opened his arm to it, "Could we get cattle or sheep to take to it?"

"Cattle maybe, sheep probably not. They'd need far more grass than you'll get with this." Anna turned to him, "Expensive as it'll sound I think you should breed horses here. You've the space, they'll take to the terrain, and you've got a market in the area of good sturdy horses ready for the climate."

"Are you staying on, as our horse breeder?"

Anna shook her head, "We're walking a fine line, my husband and I, between risking all to flout the law and run away together or stay here for me to watch my second husband swing like my first did."

"Then let me ease your fears there." Mr. Crawley took his hat from his head, wiped back the hair there. "They'll take him to the county seat to hang him there if that's what the Marshall decides. But the more likely scenario is that they'll struggle with jurisdiction based on his record."

"I don't suppose I can hope for any kind of leniency in his case?"

"Character witnesses and testimony from the people in this town he's helped will go a ways to sway a jury but that also depends on where the twelve men they chose come from." Mr. Crawley turned, walking with Anna back toward her house. "Personally I think a man like him could make a strong case about Vera confusing him with feminine wiles."

"I'm not sure your wife would appreciate that kind of accusation." Anna laughed, "And what would they say when I admit I married him? That he was stupid enough to be bamboozled once but not twice?"

"My wife knows that it's her feminine wiles that got me in the first place and as for what people say…" Mr. Crawley shrugged, "Hang them all for whatever they may think. As Mr. Talbot says in his sermons, we're not all one thing or the other. To accuse John Bates of being a villain because he helped rob a few banks displays a narrow-minded view of the world. No one's perfect."

"But we're supposed to be law-abiding citizens." John joined them, holding onto Lizzie's ankles as she sat on his shoulders. "And that's what matters more to them I think."

"Have it your way." Mr. Crawley raised his hands in defeat, mounting his horse. "Personally I think you're both better packing your things in the dead of night and riding away before anyone realizes where you've gone."

"Is the Mayor giving us advice on how to avoid the law?" John teased but Mr. Crawley waved him off.

"I'm a man who believes that there's a letter and a spirit to the law. In this case I think the spirit of the law is maintaining order and I won't disturb that by encouraging the capture and inevitable execution of a man bewitched by an truly evil person."

"She's not a succubus."

"But wouldn't that be a wonderful defense if she were?" Mr. Crawley winked and turned his horse around. "I'll bring by my thoughts on the beginnings of my new horse breeding enterprise Ms. Smith, for you to approve given your penchant for horses."

"I'd welcome any opportunity to help Mr. Crawley." Anna waved him off before turning to John, "When do we admit to him that you're the one who broke the last herd of horses I had here?"

"He didn't ask you to break them he wants you to select them." John lifted Lizzie from his shoulders, "Though you never did say how you got ahold of that many horses in the first place?"

"I sold off a lucrative portion of my property to the local Indian tribe and kept it as part of the agreement with Mr. Crawley when he bought it."

"To do what?"

"Keep them safe." Anna shrugged, "I'm not one who argues Indian rights at the top of her voice but I won't see them driven off their land if I can help it and I did what I could."

"So they're what, living on your land?"

"Legally it's now Mr. Crawley's land but when Alex was alive he tricked them out of a sizable portion of their native lands and, when he presumably died, I inherited it." Anna led them inside, "We got on and I decided that the only way I could give it back without worrying that someone else with the same level of morals as Alex would swoop in and take it again I decided to legalize the transaction as a renters agreement."

"And they paid you in horses?"

"That's the thing," Anna winced, "They didn't pay me. I gave them the profits from the sale back. It's their land and those were their horses. All I did was sell them because people'll buy them from me but not an Indian."

"So you acted as intermediary?"

"It was what I could do and I did it." Anna started up the stove, "Now, Ms. Lizzie, I do believe you've got reading to do."

She pouted, turning to John, "Will you read with me?"

"Don't you dare read for her John Bates." Anna raised a warning finger as John lifted Lizzie up and carried her to the sofa.

"I won't." He put a hand to his chest, feigning offense. "I wouldn't dare."

"I'll be listening." Anna set a pot to boil and turned to the door as someone's knuckles rapped on the wood. She opened the door to Mary, who quickly ushered her out of the house. "What is it?"

"Outside." Mary hissed and Anna joined her, closing the door behind her. "When was the last time you read a paper?"

"Not recently." Anna folded her arms over her chest, "Why?"

"This." Mary held up the paper and Anna pulled it toward her to read the indicated article, her eyes widening with every word.

"What is this?"

"Looks like an expose on the former bedmate of your current husband." Mary pointed to the house, "She's hunting for him."

"I can read, Mary." Anna handed back the paper but Mary stepped away from it. "It's not poisoned."

"It's a warning, Anna, to anyone suspected of harboring John Bates. A warning that she'll leave the town that gives him safety to the coyotes or in ashes with not much in between."

"We all knew this when he came to town and told us who he is." Anna flailed a hand, "It's why Sheriff Carson's getting the Marshall."

"Sheriff Carson's late and Vera could make her way here any day." Mary gathered herself, "You need to leave, with him, as soon as possible. Don't delay but get yourselves gone before that woman leaves Downton as ashes."

"Your father had this town built out of iron and brick, it's not burning to the ground."

"As rubble then, it's all semantics Anna."

"It'll be the same semantics when you explain to Vera, if she comes here at all, that you once had him here but he's not anymore."

"You can't seriously tell me we stand a better chance with him here than gone do you?" Mary flustered a moment before settling, "There's a newspaper man here. The same one who wrote the article, and he's got some suspicions about John Bates's whereabouts."

"And why would he suspect anything at all?" Anna frowned, "We're not on any main thoroughfare and no one's ridden any further than their own spreads the whole time John's been here."

"Sheriff Carson carried word to the Marshalls and I don't know if you remember but I do recall that they're not the kind of people who keep their mouths shut when they're inebriated."

"You think the Marshall's let slip that John's at Downton?"

"At this point it doesn't matter since the newspaper man's here and he's been asking questions of people who aren't exactly the biggest fans of our Mr. Bates." Mary shook her head, "It's a rotten business and I wish there was some way I could tell you that we'd all give our grand last stand against Vera but I wouldn't ask that of any of the women in this town. They've already lost so much."

"I'm not asking that of anyone Mary." Anna peeked through her window to see Lizzie and John reading on the sofa. "But you're right. It's time we made tracks away from here."

"I'm sorry Anna."

"I'm sorry too." Anna held up the paper, "I'll show this to him later. Don't want to disturb Lizzie with it."

"Probably for the best." Mary put on her gloves, "If you need anything, let us know."

"You know I won't. Then you'd be implicated and we all know that the Mayor and his daughter need to have clean hands and pure hearts about this."

"I'm sure we're all aware that I'm not one for a pure heart." Mary mounted her horse. "But you've got one so I think we could all break even together."

"Always." Anna waited until Mary rode away before reentering the house.

She knew John saw the paper but he asked no questions. Dinner, for her part, was a somber affair that left a bad taste in her mouth. And as she scrubbed the bottom of the pot, listening to John tell Lizzie a story to help her fall asleep, she could barely manage a smile.

John's hand at her shoulder startled her and Anna jumped slightly. He backed up, putting up his hands. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize."

"It's fine I've just… there's plenty on my mind."

"I'll guess it has to do with this." John lifted the paper and read it quickly before stuffing it into the stove. "Who brought it?"

"Mary did, with news that the man who wrote it found his way here and he's been asking questions about you."

"Who's he asking?"

"From Mary's description I would guess Edna Braithwaite's among them."

"Not the temperance league?"

"Mrs. Hughes wouldn't say a word. She's far too loyal to Sheriff Carson and she believes in justice served to the tune of silence. Jane wouldn't speak about anything that could bring trouble to Freddie and that's all newspaper men are. Gwen and Alfred'll keep quiet because of the work you've done and they won't let anyone speak ill in their presence. Mr. Talbot's one of your fans and the Crawleys'll all be silent as the grave. Ethel might say something but more likely she'll be cowed by the rest of the league."

"So just Ms. Braithwaite then?"

"All he needs is one mouth flapping with whatever information led him here to print a piece that Vera tracks right here." Anna closed her eyes, "We've got to leave John. For the good of this town we've got to go."

"I promised Alfred and Gwen that I wouldn't renege on the agreement and that I'd be here for Sheriff Carson to collect when he came back."

"He's been gone too long, John." Anna tried to calm her voice but the tempo and pitch rose with her worry. "I don't think he's dead and that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that if he'd taken you with him then maybe we could've avoided whatever's coming for us but right now, with as deeply rooted as you are, it'll be death to us all."

"So you want me to run?"

"This town is populated by women and boys and maybe four men, five if you count yourself." Anna shook her head, "These women are built to defend their homes to the last. Mary could, if Edith were in her right mind she might manage it, Gwen's a good shot, and Mrs. Hughes can rip a hole in a few people under the right conditions but the rest of them… they'll be slaughtered."

"And it'd be on our heads if we stay?"

"She's looking for you, John, and there's no two ways about that." Anna put a hand on his arm, "We can start over somewhere else and she'll just run herself in circles in the desert. It's all we can hope for."

"Unless I go out and find her and end her myself."

"You'd risk her people just to kill her?"

John nodded, "Vera's skill was gathering a group of dependents. Most of them don't have two brains to rub together between them. If she's gone then they wander the desert or get grabbed by the first officers of the law who find them. In this cae if the snake loses her head they'll all die."

"And you'd risk yourself for that?"

John turned toward the curtain before drawing Anna toward the sofa. "I'd risk it for the two of you. I won't let Vera destroy what we've built here and I'll defend it to my dying breath."

"If you go there alone you'll certainly die."

"I'm stronger than that." John tried to smile but Anna shook her head, tears pricking at her eyes.

"I couldn't bear you going. I can't have you going."

"Anna," John cupped her face, "We knew this was where it would end. We have since the beginning."

"We knew it could end that way but it's different now. Before Vera was this shadow on our consciousness but now she's taken shape and she'll come here."

"Then I'll have to beat her first."

"And where would we go then?" Anna waved a hand at the room about them, "You couldn't come back here as the conquering hero. You'd be arrested again and taken to trial somewhere."

"I know we can't stay here but I wouldn't know where else we could go. We can't go back east or to England."

"We could go west. Or north to Canada or even-"

"They'd suspect that Anna." John nodded toward the curtain, "I wouldn't want to drag that little girl around pretending we're making a home when we're just running for our lives with every step we take dogged. She'd resent it and so would you."

"Look at us," Anna brought a hand to his face, using her other to wipe away any of her remaining tears. "We've got nowhere to belong anymore. We've thrown away all of our options and we're left with nothing."

"That's not true." John drew closer to her, "I belong with you."

"And I belong to you."

Anna pressed him back to the sofa and straddled his legs, taking his lips with force and then petering off to draw slowly at him. His hands started at her hair, pulling it loose so it bounced on her shoulders, and then worked their way down her back. Each caress drew at her, bunching fabric in his wake.

She threaded the fingers of one hand in his hair while the other snaked to the back of his neck to hold him still. Risking her tongue over his bottom lip, Anna gasped when he sucked it into his mouth at the next moment. They moaned in unison, the vibration coursing through them, and broke only long enough to look in one another's eyes before continuing.

Her hands opened his buttons using only her tactile expertise to run her hands over his chest when his head dipped to address what he could of her breasts when his work exposed them to his view. Anna sighed into his hair, holding him close as her hips shifted forward to gain a better position on him, and clung to him all the tighter. When her actions brushed against him, John groaned around her skin and turned his innocent kisses into ravishing nips and sucks.

His hands clutched at her hips and rocked his toward her, striking where he wanted him and Anna risked a hand between them to fumbled at his buckle. John's hand knocked against hers as he managed to work under her skirt and struggled with her knickers there. Anna put a hand to his chest and stepped back a moment, shedding her knickers before climbing atop him again.

But she stayed just out of reach, her hand grabbing for him instead, and stroked. John's head fell forward to her shoulder as he groaned. She smiled into his hair, only losing her rhythm slightly when John's hands proved as dexterous reaching under her skirt again, and they worked one another to panting.

Shifting just enough, Anna sank down on John. His feet hit the floor and she closed her eyes to bask in the sensation. When he rocked toward her Anna opened her eyes and seized his lips with hers.

John set the pace, sure and steady, with his fingers and thrusts working in tandem to send her higher and higher on the search for the peak of her pleasure. Anna met his hand between them, trying to find purchase on him as well, but her efforts resulted in scratching nails over his skin. But with each motion they groaned their mutual satisfaction.

He finished first, ending inside her with definitive force, and rested a moment. Anna tried to move against him but John stopped her. Shuffling just enough to lay her back on the sofa, John rolled her skirt to her waist and kissed over the skin exposed to him.

She writhed under his attentions and silenced herself with the back of her hand stuck between her teeth. As John's teeth and tongue worked over her screaming nerves, and fingers busied themselves with her folds and working into her, Anna peaked with a barely muffled shriek. And when she finally came back down she noted John's continued efforts.

"One more Anna?"

If there was a moment of argument she did not have it. John set back to work, his tongues stroking over her with the flat before sucking a line back to where she wanted him most. His hands never stopped moving and before Anna's body stopped shuddering from the first time it shook under the attentions of the second.

After a time, when her breathing was no longer outmatched by the thunder of blood in her ears, Anna pulled herself up to kiss him. They met as sweetly as possible, Anna sneaking the taste there until John finally pulled away. He grinned at her as he moved individual strands of hair from her face.

"I've always belonged to you and I always will. No matter what happens to me I want you to know that."

"I do." Anna buried her head by his neck, "I just… I don't know what I'll do if I lose you and I don't know what I'd tell Lizzie."

"Tell her that I did the right thing."

"I'm not sure that'd dry her tears at night."

"That's what I'm for until I go and then what you're for." John's eyes betrayed the sadness he attempted to hide behind a smile. "We're supposed to set an example for her. What do I tell her if I don't face the consequences of my actions?"

"That you're not the man she thinks you are." Anna sighed, "If only we'd met in a different life. Before we were the people we are now."

"I wouldn't change this for anything." John looked around, "Not one moment."

"I'm not sorry you know." Anna held his hand, "Not for one bit of it."

"Neither am I." John admitted.

"Maybe others'll say I should be but I'm not."

"I couldn't be either." He stroked his thumb along her cheekbone as he held her face. "I know I should be. I should regret dragging you or the town into this or involving anyone in any of it but I don't."

"I'd do it all over again if I weren't already married to you."

"And I'd search the world over to find you."

Anna sighed against his hand, "Maybe we'll get a chance to try again."

"I'm not changing one line of it so I don't want to try again." John pulled Anna toward him, situating her on his lap. "I want to remember us, as we are, right now."

"Half dressed and utterly exposed?"

"However, whatever, whenever." John kissed her, "I love you, Anna Bates, and I'm not afraid to say it."

"And I love you."


	14. Diggin' My Own Grave

Anna frowned at the banging on the door and sat up as John roused next to her. He reached for the pocket watch he kept near the bed and groaned. "I hope that's not Mary."

"She'd never come this early." Anna grabbed her dressing gown, stumbling toward the door. "She knows what I'd do."

"What?" John twisted in bed as Anna pumped the rifle near the door, "Oh."

Anna opened the door and froze as Sheriff Carson filled the frame. He removed his hat, "Might I come in Anna?"

She darted a look toward the curtain as John drew it back before stepping to the side. Sheriff Carson held his hand in one hand, the other stroking the brim as if looking for something to do, and he shuffled in place. Anna drew out a chair, "Perhaps you'd like to sit Sheriff."

"Thank you." He took a seat and rested his hat on the table between them. "I won't do either of us the disservice of suggesting you don't know why I'm here."

"I'll assume that your wife and Alfred and quite a few people in town were more than willing to tell you why there's not a man in your cell that you put there."

"You're right in one regard that Alfred did tell me why Mr. Bates wasn't there but it was more an act of duty than malice, I'm sure you understand."

"I do." Anna took a breath, "I hope you won't mind if we allow my husband a few moments to dress himself."

"I think that'd be best."

They sat at the table in silence, the minimal noise from behind the curtain telling them John was ready before he drew it back. He nodded at Sheriff Carson and kissed Anna on the cheek before taking the chair opposite the Sheriff. "This is the most polite anyone's ever been when they came to take me to jail but the last time was respectful as well so it speaks to your character, Sheriff."

"As your actions speak to yours, Mr. Bates." Sheriff Carson shifted in his chair, interlacing his fingers on the table. "I've been apprised of your work here in Downton while I've been attending to your matter and I find myself rather impressed. Grudgingly perhaps but impressed nonetheless."

"That means a great deal to me, Sheriff."

"As does your service to me." He coughed, "But Marshall Carlisle is sending word as to what we're to do with you until such time as a jury can be gathered for your trial."

"Until then?" Anna spoke up and ignored the rise in Sheriff Carson's impressively bushy eyebrows. "What happens to my husband until Marshall Carlisle descends from his throne in the heavens to pass judgment?"

"I'm afraid that until then he must be locked in the cells at my office."

"It's not right Sheriff and you know it."

"What I know, Ms. Smith-"

"Mrs. Bates." Anna took John's hand, holding it tight in hers. "I'm his wife and I'd prefer to be addressed as such."

"My apologies, Mrs. Bates." Sheriff Carson took a beat, "I'm conflicted about this decision. Not as much as yourself but enough to impress upon you the weight of what this means. Both to the town that could greatly benefit for a man as skilled with horse and gun as Mr. Bates obviously is and to your family by his absence."

"However," He held up a hand to stop Anna's potential arguments. "I also swore an oath when I took this badge and I won't tarnish it. I've worn it for more years than you've been alive and that isn't going to change the duty I have to uphold the law."

"Perhaps we could solve one problem with another, Sheriff." John spoke, drawing Sheriff Carson's attention from Anna. "I'm sure you're aware of the article printed in one of the only newspapers to circulate here."

"The expose on your former… compatriot?"

"That's the one."

Sheriff Carson gave a disapproving huff, "I read it with less than invested interest."

"It wasn't kind to men like yourself so I can understand the frustration." John continued, "But it did tell us that she's looking for me."

"I would assume that was already her goal, Mr. Bates."

"If she thinks I'm just hiding away then perhaps the advantage is ours."

"I'm not sure I follow."

John risked a look at Anna, who only shook her head, and focused on Sheriff Carson. "Let me go after her."

"I don't mean the next comment to impugn your honor, Mr. Bates, and it might when I say I wouldn't risk the thought that you might just be rejoining her." Sheriff Carson waved a hand at the home around them. "What if all this is a very patient way to lull us all into a false sense of security?"

"Before I rejoin Vera and bring her back here to sack the town?" Sheriff Carson nodded and John shook his head. "Vera's many things but she's not patient and she's not methodical. She's conniving, malicious, and vindictive but she's also all passion and rage. There's not enough in her for schemes longer than the moment."

"Her manhunt for you is one of great determination Mr. Bates."

"All the more reason for me to go after her and end this threat before it comes any closer to the people you and I love dearly." John waited, "Please Sheriff, let me right this wrong."

"In other circumstances, Mr. Bates, I might be inclined to let you do just that for the Bible tells us that by the wicked shall the wicked be punished. However," Sheriff Carson cut off Anna's attempt to argue, "I don't believe you're wicked and I reiterate my earlier statement. I swore an oath for this badge and I won't turn my back on it for anyone. If I do then what meaning does it hold?"

"None, Sheriff." John stood, "I hope you wouldn't mind giving me time to set a few affairs in order."

"I'll do you one better." Sheriff Carson stood as well, "I'll wait for you at the station. You can ride yourself there and turn yourself in. If you're not there in an hour… well, I guess things just happen."

He took his hat from the table and nodded to both of them, "You both have a good morning now."

Anna shut the door after Sheriff Carson left and leaned on it, looking at John. "We could leave."

"We won't betray his trust. Not like that." He shook his head, "You can't dissuade me Anna. I'm turning myself in to Sheriff Carson this time like I did the last time. I owe him and the people that kind of respect."

"He gave us time to get away. He all but told us to do it."

"It doesn't mean you should." John sighed, "If I remember anything from Mass other than the choking incense it was that Eve didn't have to eat the fruit of the Tree. It was a temptation."

"That enabled all life, John." Anna crossed to him, tugging on his hands. "Don't we owe it to ourselves and the life we can make together to leave now. To run and never come back."

"We'd be leaving them to Vera."

"We're taking the chance life is giving us and I don't like the idea of slapping that offering away so blithely."

"There's nothing blithe about this decision, Anna." John moved past her toward the door. "We've had this conversation before and it always comes to the same conclusion. I'm turning myself in and that's all there is to it."

"Why do you have to be so damned noble all the time?" Anna set her jaw, trying to keep back tears by sheer willpower. "Why would you do this to me? To Lizzie? What do I tell her?"

"Tell me what?" Lizzie came from behind the curtain, rubbing at her eyes.

Anna turned to John, "You need to tell her because I can't."

The door clacked against the frame as she left the house. Anna walked to the barn, her nightgown catching on the tops of her boots, and she yanked the fabric away to sit on a bench. Her horse brought its head over the stall and nudged her. Anna smiled, scratching at his nose until he turned back into his stall.

A few moments later Anna heard the crunch of boots on the dirt and she turned to see John at the door. "Did you tell her?"

John nodded, "She asked to be alone."

"It's difficult for her to understand."

"No," John shook his head, "She understood. It's difficult for her to bear."

"Then I guess we're in agreement." Anna stood, "I don't know why you're not running for it."

"I've explained-"

"I understand," Anna put up her hands, "Why you're doing it in a logical way. I'm not so stupid that I can't follow your thinking. What I don't understand is how you could break our hearts this way."

"Anna…" John raked his hair back, "It's not that simple."

"You're breaking my heart, you're breaking Lizzie's heart, and you're doing it because you're doing something noble." Anna closed her eyes, giving herself over to her tears. "I don't know how you could just walk away from us and feel nothing."

"I owe it to people to stop Vera. I owe it to everyone so she doesn't succeed."

"Don't you owe me anything?" Her eyes flew open, "Don't you owe Lizzie anything?"

"I owe you being the man you married."

Anna drew herself up, "You owe it to be the living man I married."

John sighed, "I have to go Anna."

"What am I supposed to do after you're gone?"

"Remember the best parts of me and then forget the rest." He put a hand to her cheek, "Then go to bed and dream of a better man."

"I can't, because there aren't any." Anna rested in his hand, "You're the best man I've ever met."

"And you're the finest lady I've ever met." John let his hand fall, "I'll never forget you and I'll never regret a moment of this."

"Neither will I." John walked toward his stall but Anna snatched his hand. "Don't leave me like this."

"What else could I give you Anna?"

She drew him to the side, taking his face in her hands, and surged up to kiss him. His hands paused before immediately grabbing at her waist. Her back hit the wall and Anna moaned into his mouth as he lifted her high enough to let her legs wrap around his hips.

Anna fought at the urgency building inside her but when John sucked at her neck she gave over to it. Her hands practically ripped her nightgown up as John pulled at her knickers. They only took a moment for her to toss them aside as John flipped the catch on his belt and lifted her back up.

Their hurried breathing echoed around the barn and Anna lost herself in the frantic pace of their movements. They bumped and fumbled with one another until Anna could get a hold on him. John froze, grunting into her grip while he tried to move her so he could bring her closer.

When John thrust into her, Anna gripped the back of his neck to bring his forehead to hers. "Please give me a way to remember you."

"You'll remember me Anna."

"Just," She shifted her hips against him, trying to get her thoughts together. "Give me something John."

"What do you want from me Anna?" He pulled to the very edge and then plunged back in to drive the air from Anna's lungs. "What can I give you?"

"Just you, I just want you." Anna tucked her head between his neck and shoulder to try and hold herself to him when his fingers tried to bring her over the edge.

A moment later Anna peaked and waited for John to follow her. He moved to settle them on the bench and Anna clung to him until she finished shaking. The tears from her eyes dripped onto his collar and she tried to wipe them away. But John cut in, kissing away the tears until Anna could only look at him.

"You'll be alright Anna."

"Not without you."

"You've still got Lizzie and, maybe, you've got a bit of me." His hand went to her abdomen, "A man can dream of leaving something behind that matters."

"You matter to me and you're leaving me behind."

"I know." John kissed her forehead, "But we're better for who we've been. For what we've had together. And it's breaking my heart too… please believe that."

"I do." Anna took a breath, "Don't leave without us. Please don't go unless we can come with you."

"That'll destroy you Anna."

"We deserve the chance to say goodbye." Anna put her hand over his mouth, "You can't deny us that."

"I won't." John assured her. "I'll ready the horses and you get yourself ready."

"Don't you dare leave without me, John Bates, of I will shoot you off your horse."

John laughed, "I promise I won't."

Anna maneuvered off him, taking her knickers when he offered them. "Thank you."

"I don't know if you'd like to walk back to the house without them."

"I doubt I should." Anna worked herself back into the knickers, "But I won't be long."

"I'll be ready for you."

Anna hurried back inside and pulled the curtain back to see Lizzie sitting on her bed, knees drawn to her chest. She knelt in front of her, bringing a hand to brush Lizzie's curls back. "What do you need Lizzie?"

"I don't want him to go." Lizzie sniffed and Anna crawled onto the bed with her, pulling her daughter into her embrace. "I want him to stay."

"You know why he has to leave." Lizzie nodded her head against Anna, "Then we've got to let him make his choice, no matter what we think about it."

"But he's leaving us."

"He was leaving us from the beginning, Lizzie." Anna soothed, "And he's got to follow his need to do the right thing."

"Why couldn't we all leave together like you discussed?"

Anna pulled back, looking down at Lizzie, "When did you hear that?"

"I hear a lot of things."

Trying to suppress an embarrassed groan Anna kissed Lizzie's head. "We didn't run because he wanted to be true to his word and that's the legacy he wanted to leave for you."

"He could've stayed with us."

"Yes he could've, but he's going to be honorable." Anna stood, "And we're going to support him so we need to be ready for town."

"I don't like town anymore." Lizzie hopped down from her bed, "The people there don't understand."

"No they don't."

Anna helped Lizzie change her clothes and then her own before plopping Lizzie's hat on her head. She grabbed her own, prepped her gun, and led them out of the house. John held the reins to two horses, patting at both of them, and then bending down and opening his arms for Lizzie to run to him.

He stood, putting Lizzie on his horse, and then mounted behind her. Anna got into her own saddle and nodded at John. "It's your lead Mr. Bates."

"Alright Lizzie," John put her hands on the reins, "After you."

Anna and John waited as Lizzie took a moment before slapping the reins and urging the horse forward. They took their time, maintaining an easy trot on the road to town, and eventually reached the edge of the buildings. In the distance they saw Sheriff Carson standing on the steps of the Sheriff's office, waiting for them.

John rolled his shoulders back and urged his horse forward. They all dismounted and John carried Lizzie on his hip toward the interior. Anna followed, nodding toward Mrs. Hughes, and took Lizzie from John. Her little arms clutched around John's neck as her body shivered with the tears that started flowing from her eyes.

When Anna finally managed to get a grip on Lizzie, rubbing over her back as she cried into Anna's shoulder. Mrs. Hughes put a hand on her too but Lizzie curled closer to Anna. John leaned over, putting a hand to the back of Anna's neck, and kissed her forehead. She sighed into it, kissing him before he could draw back.

"I love you." He whispered and kissed Lizzie's head. "And I love you."

Lizzie tried to throw her arms around John again, sobbing her affection for him as Anna tried to pull her away. Eventually she returned to her mother, tears falling harder now, as Anna tried to soothe her. She turned to John, "I love you too. And she loves you."

"I know she does." John turned to Sheriff Carson and removed his hat. "I'm ready to be in your custody Sheriff Carson."

"Then, John Bates," Sheriff Carson opened the cell door, "I'm holding you on charges of theft, extortion, and as an accessory to murder."

As the door clanged shut Anna shuddered, holding her daughter closer. Mrs. Hughes put a hand on Anna's shoulder, "I'm sorry about this Anna."

"It's his choice and I support it." Anna nodded at him, "I love you John."

"I love you Anna." He pointed toward the door, "You should go now."

Turning toward the door, Anna walked outside. The door shutting sent a shiver through her but Anna continued to their horses. When she reached them Mary stood there, holding out her hands for Lizzie, and Anna extricated herself from her daughter long enough to untie their horses and tie the lead to John's horse to her saddle horn.

"Thank you Mary." Anna took Lizzie back, holding the reins in her hand. "She's crying all the tears I'll shed when I get home."

"She's crying all the tears we'd like to cry." Mary sighed, shaking her head at the office. "If I didn't think so highly of Sheriff Carson I'd help you break him out again."

"Thank you Mary." Anna adjusted Lizzie and frowned as she noted Talbot approaching them. "Why's Mr. Talbot coming this way?"

Mary kicked at the ground, refusing to meet Anna's eyes. "Henry and I've been spending a lot of time together as he's been helping me deal with my grief."

"And you're…" Anna smiled, "Enjoying it?"

"I'd rather keep whatever it is to ourselves at the moment." Mary rolled her shoulders back. "Nonetheless, if you need anything don't hesitate to ask for help this time?"

"I'll keep that in mind." Anna lifted Lizzie to the saddle and mounted behind her. "Now, we're going to go home and cry together."

"I'll be by later, just to make sure you're not drowning."

"Oh Mary," Anna gave a bitter laugh, "We're already drowning."


	15. God Will Cut You Down

Anna waited outside the building, smiling when Lizzie ran to her. She lifted her up, "Are you ready to visit John?"

"I made him this," Lizzie pulled out a piece of paper with a small picture on it. "I want to show him."

"I think he'll love it." They walked up the street, waving at the few people who waved back, and stopped at the Sheriff's office. "Are you ready?"

"Yes," Lizzie hissed, holding the drawing tightly to her chest.

"Good."

They ascended the steps and entered the office. Alfred stood, nodding at them, and Anna let Lizzie run over to the cell where John immediately got down on the floor in front of her. Anna held back a moment, watching with a pained smile as her daughter passed the drawing through the bars.

"That's beautiful Lizzie." John practically crowed, showing it to Alfred. "Deputy, did you see what my daughter drew?"

"I'll have to ask Sheriff Carson if he'd let us hang it here in honor of her." Alfred came over, "She's got real talent."

Lizzie only giggled and took the edge of the paper to hand it to Alfred. "For you to hang up."

"Don't mind if I do." Alfred took it over to the board and between the wanted posters and the billets for other criminals.

Anna turned back to the cell, walking to where John held out his hand to her. "How are you darling?"

"Better now that you're here." He stood, risking a look down at Lizzie, "Might I kiss your mother?"

"I think she'd like you to." Lizzie covered her eyes with her hands and Anna laughed, offering a quick peck to John.

"You can look now Lizzie, it's over."

"Good." She got to her feet, tugging on John's trouser leg through the cell. "When are they letting you out?"

"After Marshall Carlisle gives his order for it." John held her hand, facing Anna again, "Sheriff Carson's gone to exchange telegrams with him now so we should know today."

"It doesn't make me rest easy that the newspaper man rode out of here like the legions of Hell were on his tail after everyone saw our rather dramatic ride into town the other day."

"Me either." John admitted, "But what've you heard, in regards to that?"

"Nothing." Anna shook her head. "We won't know until we actually get another paper here but I wouldn't put stock in anything good being in there."

"It'll be alright." John clutched her hand. "It'll all be alright."

"Do they teach to lie prettily like that in the Army?" Anna smiled at him before looking down at where Lizzie tugged on her skirt. "Yes?"

"Lying's wrong."

"Yes it is." Anna hefted Lizzie into her arms, "So you should tell your father off for it."

"Yes," John rested on the bars, smiling at Lizzie, "Tell me off."

"Lying's wrong and you shouldn't do it."

"Alright," John pouted, "What's my punishment?"

"I think-" Lizzie leaned so far out of Anna's arms she almost dropped her as Lizzie snuck her own kiss from John, "All's forgiven."

"Thank you Lizzie."

"You're welcome John." She squirmed out of her mother's arms as the door opened and Mrs. Hughes entered with Sheriff Carson right on her heels.

"Ah," Sheriff Carson closed the door, "I see this bit of information'll be easier in the delivery than it will in the telling."

"What information Sheriff Carson?" Alfred stood from his desk, tucking at his shirt and adjusting his belt.

"I've got a telegram back from Marshall Carlisle and he's ordered me to take you to Santa Fe."

"That's at least a two day ride one way." Anna crossed her arms over her chest, "Who's going to protect the town?"

"The town's in good hands Mrs. Bates."

"I don't know if you read the paper Mrs. Crawley passed around a short time ago or met that weasel of a reporter but I'm sure you'll agree that it's not alright." Anna pointed at John, "He's here for the moment but what happens when Vera descends on this town like a plague of locusts?"

"I'm sure Vera Bates will make her own way wherever that is and we'll worry about coming storms when they come, Mrs. Bates." Sheriff Carson collected the keys from the desk and found the right one. "But I've got to attend to the duties assigned me."

"Sheriff this is a mistake." Anna insisted, stepping to his side as he unlocked John's cell and took a pair of handcuffs to close over his wrists. "She'll burn us to the ground the way she did Kirby."

"No one's seen Vera Bates since Kirby, Mrs. Bates, and that was almost two months ago." Sheriff Carson led John out of the cell, "As much as I agree that woman's a legitimate threat there's nothing I can do. We can't go riding hither and yon searching for her when we'd stand as much chance losing ourselves in the desert as having any hope of finding her."

"So we'll just ride away two of our last remaining defenders?" Anna followed them to the door before looking at John, "What do you think?"

"I'd rather meet Vera on the road to Santa Fe then here where she'll do more harm Anna." John nodded at Sheriff Carson, "If he's sent word and it's come back here then someone along the line might've got it too and she'll ignore this place. Why stop at a way station when you're quarry's already moved on?"

"That only works if you know they moved on." Anna put a hand on Sheriff Carson's arm, "Do you want to take that chance with the lives that'll be left here?"

"Unfortunately, Mrs. Bates, I don't have the luxury of entertaining the complications of the idea now that I have my orders." Sheriff Carson led John down the steps and helped him mount a horse whose lead tied to Sheriff Carson's saddle. "I won't abandon this town, Mrs. Bates, and I won't allow that woman to leave her mark here the way she did at Kirby."

"Wait," John leaned to pull at the lead, "A moment with my wife?"

Sheriff Carson nodded and John maneuvered his horse to stand just close enough so the stair Anna occupied put her level with him. "I couldn't leave without giving you a proper goodbye."

"And what kind of goodbye is that?" Anna risked a look at where Mrs. Hughes comforted a sniffling and tearing Lizzie. "We've already been broken by this once."

"Then just know that I love you both, from the bottom of my soul, and if there were any way around this that left you safer I'd take it faster than lightning."

Anna nodded, swallowing as she met his eyes. "I don't regret it you know. Not one bit of it."

"I don't either." John sighed, "I should. I should regret drawing you into my troubles like this but I don't and I never could."

"I'd marry you right now, knowing this was the result, if I weren't already married to you." Anna put a hand to his cheek. "I love you, John Bates, and I always will."

"Then will you let me have one kiss to take with me, since that's all we can give right now?"

Anna nodded and tilted forward to press her lips to his. Conscious of their audience and their circumstance, she pulled back but slowly enough that they could both feel the agony from the other. Their eyes met one last time, their fingers intertwining, before John nudged his horse to follow Sheriff Carson's.

Holding her breath, in hopes of stopping her tears, Anna went back up the stairs to collect Lizzie. Lizzie flung herself into her mother's arms and Anna rocked her a moment, waiting for the sobbing to slow, while rubbing soothing hands down Lizzie's back. After a moment Lizzie stopped, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand, and Anna stared at her.

"Are you ready to go home?"

Lizzie managed a stiff nod but the words she said as Anna took her hand stopped them both. "But it's not home without John."

Anna went to respond as a horse trotted up to them. She frowned, glancing back at Mrs. Hughes for information but the woman could only shake her head in confusion. The man cleared his throat as he approached, dismounting and removing his rather out-of-place hat that matched a suit far too fine for whatever work brought him so far from the civilization that made his clothes.

"Is the Sheriff in?"

"Who's asking?" Alfred stepped out of the building, rubbing his cuff on his Deputy star.

The man at the bottom swallowed, practically stopping himself taking a physical step backward, and ascended enough steps to extend his hand toward Alfred. "Sheriff it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Bertie Pelham of the Pinkertons."

"Pinkertons?" Anna frowned, "Can't say we've had the pleasure of your particular brand of employment out here."

"It's my first time to New Mexico." He shuffled, smiling a little too broadly as it made his ears stick out from his head even farther. "It's all been rather exciting."

"You ride a horse like someone who only does it for sport." Mrs. Hughes noted, crossing her arms over her chest, "Not a good sign for someone who'll have to ride himself all the way back to wherever he came from when we send you on your way in no time at all."

"Well… I," Mr. Pelham stopped, pulling into his pocket to pull out his credentials. "I am a warrant officer for the United States government and I serve as a private detective. I'm good at my work and I'll have it noted that I'm dedicated enough to ignore your insults and do my job."

"At least you've got a spark in you." Anna sighed, "What do you want with the Sheriff, Mr. Pelham?"

"I'm looking for information as to the location and abode of one Edith Crawley." He tucked his credentials away, "I've information that'll be of some importance to her and I need to relay it as soon as possible."

Anna ground her teeth a moment before turning to Mrs. Hughes. "Would you mind Lizzie until I finish helping this gentleman here?"

"Of course." Mrs. Hughes took Lizzie back inside the office, pulling Alfred by the arm with her, while Mr. Pelham's face washed with confusion.

"I thought he was-"

"He's the Deputy here, not the Sheriff." Anna grabbed the fabric of Mr. Pelham's coat arm and directed him to follow her. "And he's not ready for what you're about to see so I do hope your professionalism extends to anatomy."

"Not sure I understand your meaning."

"You will." Anna guided him up the street, ignoring the stares from those they passed. "I am curious, Mr. Pelham, what brings you to Downton on behalf of Ms. Crawley?"

"I've information of some interest to her." He paused, digging in another coat pocket before bringing out a newspaper. "And perhaps something of interest to the whole town."

Anna stopped, taking the preferred paper and reading the headline. Her eyes closed and she folded the paper again, resisting the urge to tear it to unforgiving shreds. She looked at Mr. Pelham, "Where'd you get this?"

"Not far from here. It was hot off the presses when I bought it and the man who printed it handed it over with news he'd be writing the conclusion to the story shortly. I passed him on the road so I suspect he's already on his way here."

"I would put good money on that eventuality Mr. Pelham." Anna tapped the paper on his arm, "Can I keep this?"

"I've already read it and I think what you'll do with it'll mean more than what I could at this point." Mr. Pelham shrugged, "I just need to see Ms. Crawley."

"Right." Anna tucked the paper under her arm, "This way."

They reached a small house at the end of the street. Compared to the others it was drab and uninviting, some might even go so far as to call it dilapidated but the reality was just enough of the house stood on a solid foundation to keep it form crumbling or leaking. The rest of it, much like the women who lived inside, had gone to Hell in a hand basket.

Anna rapped her knuckles on the door, holding up a finger to stop Mr. Pelham immediately joining her, and waited. She knocked again and the door cracked to show Anna the face of a woman experimenting with colors not natural to her skin. "Good morning Edith."

"Anna," The woman's gaze darted out the door and she cowered back inside, whispering so Anna had to lean forward to hear her better. "Who's that?"

"His name's Mr. Pelham and he says he's in possession of information you'd want to hear. Something personal I'd guess since he didn't tell me more than that."

Edith's eyes narrowed before she nodded, "Come inside, both of you. I don't want to be alone with a stranger."

Before she could shut the door Anna's hand stopped it, "Are you decent?"

"Enough to meet him." Edith left the door and Anna waved a hand for Mr. Pelham to follow her inside.

If Anna was honest with herself, a trait she did not exhibit as often as she might have claimed to others, she had never set foot inside Edith's hovel. She had seen Edith's body painted with dabs and dribbles of color but never cared enough to know why. What she did not expect was the massive number of canvases stacked and hanging from the rafters to dry. Her mouth dropped open in surprise and then she closed it in frustrated groan when she noted Edith's idea of 'decent' was an apron covering the front of her body but leaving her ass hanging in the wind.

When Mr. Pelham noticed Anna was sure she had never seen a person turn that shade of red before. He busied himself with trying to look anywhere but at the lilywhite cheeks flaunted before them as Edith bent to retrieve something. Anna covered her face with a hand, resting her forehead there as she wondered how hard a person would have to scrub their eyes to rid themselves of an unwanted vision.

Edith turned to face them, sparing both Anna and Mr. Pelham further awkward viewings, and sat at the table while waving a hand for them to sit as well. Anna debated over the rickety chair and a stool before taking the chair, perching just on the edge of it. It groaned to match the unsettling creak of the stool Mr. Pelham chose and Anna wondered if they were just taunting fate even sitting at all.

"Well?" Edith folded her arms, bunching the apron on her chest, "What do you want?"

"My name is Bertie Pelham and I work for the Pinkerton Detective Agency." Anna had to admire the man who could recite his monologue while trying desperately not to look at the naked woman wearing only a painting smock across the table. "I'm here about Marigold Gregson."

Edith shot straight up in her seat, almost rocking the table between them with undue force. "What did you say?"

"It was executed in the final will and testament that you, Ms. Crawley, and any of your heirs would be inheritors of Mr. Gregson's rather large estate." Mr. Pelham cleared his throat, filtering through yet another pocket to hand a piece of paper over the distance to Edith, hand shaking ever so slightly as he did so. "As part of my search to find you, Ms. Crawley, I located the mission where you spent a little over a year recuperating."

"I was there on holiday."

"The nuns I spoke to were very specific about your reasons for being at their mission Ms. Crawley." Mr. Pelham's eyes met Edith's for the first time and Anna wondered if she should leave them to their private conversation. "I know that your Aunt Rosamund, who supports that mission, had the baby adopted by another family and I've recently come to learn that family's fallen on hard times and they returned the child to the care of your Aunt Rosamund. It was her wish to contact you herself but all of her letters were returned unopened and when I contacted her, searching for you to execute the final parts of Mr. Gregson's will, she told me."

"Marigold's with my aunt, in California?"

"Yes she is, Ms. Crawley." If Mr. Pelham dug in another pocket Anna wanted to insist on seeing his coat for herself and finding all the hiding places he sowed into the lining. "They sent a photograph for you. Thought you'd like to know what your daughter looks like."

"I would." Edith practically snatched the photograph, cradling it in her hands as Anna stood up from her chair.

"I do hope neither of you thinks I'm being overly rude if I excuse myself."

Edith barely noticed she even spoke, so absorbed in tracing the image of the curly headed girl in the photograph before her. Anna moved toward the door, ensuring she had not forgotten the newspaper, and reached for the knob as Mr. Pelham reached her. She turned, frowning. "Is there something else, Mr. Pelham?"

"I just…" He coughed, "I've created an image of her in my mind for so long, been searching for her for so long, that it's… it's rather shocking to see the truth."

"And what's that, Mr. Pelham?"

"That she's more impressive than I imagined." Mr. Pelham smiled with his laugh, "She's just as beautiful as the photographs in Mr. Gregson's office suggested."

"She's a fine woman, Mr. Pelham." Anna looked around the house, "She just needed a way to escape the funk that dragged her into the abyss and you've provided that. Her family couldn't be more grateful."

"I'm just glad I could help."

"I think you'll help her more if you stay here." Anna opened the door, "She needs someone to help her handle what you've just told her."

"I… Me… she…" Mr. Pelham struggled for words but Anna only smiled.

"I'm sure you'll find out what to do with a very grateful, very naked woman Mr. Pelham. Or at least I hope you do." Anna nodded at him, "Good day and good luck."

She left the house, walking back up the street to the Sheriff's office where Mary and Mrs. Hughes held what appeared to be a very impassioned conference right outside the door. Mary turned as Anna approached and put her hands on her hips, "What've done with the man looking for my sister?"

"Shown him right to her and hopefully she'll be right as rain in a day or two."

"Why'd you say that?"

"Because I'm pretty sure that mans besotted with her and I'm of the mind women usually relax a bit when there's sex involved. However," Anna held up the paper, handing it to Mary. "We've got bigger problems."

Mary read quickly and then handed it to Mrs. Hughes. "Then the bitch's on her way?"

"Thanks to that newspaper man."

"If I could wring the neck of someone with their own tie I'd opt for him first." Mary growled. "Stupid bugger's gone and killed us all."

"But he gave us enough warning to know she's coming." Mrs. Hughes drew their attention. "And we'll be ready for her when she does come."

"I'm sure you're not suggesting we open our arms to her." Mary raised an eyebrow, "I'd rather dig my own grave with two hands than bow down before that woman, no matter the consequences."

"I can assure you, Mrs. Crawley, we won't be bowing to that woman." Mrs. Hughes tucked the paper under her arm. "We're going to let her come here so we can bury her ourselves."

"Then we should make sure she appreciates her welcome." Anna nodded toward the office. "We've got work to do."


	16. The Devil Rides Out

Anna held her elbows in either hand, idly stroking her thumb over the fabric of her sleeves as she watched the pink tinge on the horizon lighten. A noise behind her had her half turning to see Mary, rubbing her eyes, coming out of the small house. They nodded at one another while they leaned against the struts holding the roof over the porch.

"Do you remember when you first came to Downton?" Mary's voice cut through the silence of the morning. "I remember coming here, in the back of a stagecoach, and my father spread his arms out like a maharaja showing off the spoils of war but all I could see was dirt. Never-ending brown for as far as the eye could see."

"I'd imagine that after the green of Ohio or even New York that'd be hard."

"It was like asking for desert and having someone serve you shit instead." Mary laughed, settling after a moment. "I didn't see it then. I didn't see what everyone loved about this place. Why everyone wanted to claim their manifest destiny in a land where you had to survive just to see the next day."

"I didn't either."

Mary shifted, her shoulders resting back to face Anna. "And now?"

Anna shrugged, "It's as much a part of me as brain or blood." She sighed, "I once told John that it sinks into your bones. This land wears you down until you accept it as part of yourself. It stays with you and you can't get rid of it."

"I wanted to turn the coach right back around and ride back. I didn't care how far I had to go but I never wanted to build a life here." Mary shook her head, "Oh the ways we thought our lives would go when we were young and foolish."

"But would you change any of it?" Anna waited, "If you knew this is where you'd be, what you'd become, would you go back and turn that coach around?"

"Maybe." Mary sighed, "Then Matthew wouldn't have died."

"You wouldn't have George."

"Green wouldn't have hurt you."

"Then I wouldn't have Lizzie." Anna faced the horizon again. "If we could go back and change even one thing the course of our lives would be forever altered and we wouldn't be the same. We wouldn't be standing here now, having this conversation, because it wouldn't mean anything to us. None of this would mean anything to us."

"Maybe if it meant we'd save the town the wrath of Vera it'd be worth all that." Mary pushed off the support, "I'm going to get a few more hours of sleep before we're due back to help with the rest of the preparations."

"I'll be in shortly." Anna did not look as the door shut, lost as she was in her own thoughts.

* * *

 _She wrung her hands, listening at the door as the two men completed their discussion on the other side of it. Her eyes flicked toward her weeping mother at the table and her sister as she fulfilled her filial duties and clutched her mother's hands to comfort her. All of the jumped slightly as the door opened and an older man, haggard and downcast, entered the room._

 _"_ _It's as bad as we feared."_

 _Her mother clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a sob that escaped with an ugly strangle anyway. She almost flung herself into the welcoming arms of her daughter, bleeding tears onto her shoulder. He only hung his head, lifting it only for a moment when his other daughter placed her hand over one of his._

 _"_ _I need to beg something of you Anna." He murmured to her, wrapping her hands in his grip. One that was no longer steady and comforting but troubled and trembling. With a nod from her he continued. "Mr. Green's agreed to help us."_

 _"_ _Who?"_

 _"_ _The man who helped me invest in this venture. He's agreed to help me escape some of these debts. He's given me a way to save your mother and sister from destitution."_

 _Anna pulled back, her face scrunching as realization dawned on her. "You didn't mention me in that sentence."_

 _"_ _He'll do it for your hand in marriage."_

 _"_ _What?"_

 _"_ _It'll save us Anna."_

 _"_ _You'd have me marry a man I don't even know to save us?" Anna shook her head, "How could you ask that of me?"_

 _"_ _Because it's all we've got left to do Anna. We're ruined without this and then what? How do I find you a husband then? Or your sister?"_

 _"_ _We can work, we're able," Anna flailed, "I can't do it."_

 _"_ _You must Anna." Her father drew himself to his full height. "He owns my debts here, Anna. I can't look a single man or woman in Black Hawk in the eye because of what's happened and I won't let my reputation ruin this family."_

 _"_ _You'll just ruin me instead?"_

 _"_ _I'm saving you." He took her hands again, "This is a good match Anna. He's employed, he's got land in New Mexico, and he's of means. He can help us reopen the mine."_

 _"_ _That's not a good idea."_

 _"_ _It's all I've got Anna." Her father pleaded with her, "Please, do this for us."_

 _Anna let the echoes of her mother's sobs fill her ears and met her father's begging eyes. She nodded once. "I'll do it."_

 _The time between agreeing to marry the man and actually completing the action moved faster than shooting stars to Anna's mind. One moment she agreed to her father's plan and the next moment she joined him at the train station to greet her future husband. His hand was cold, his smile empty, and his voice almost teasing in how he casually threw around details of their arrangement. When Anna hung her head in shame he would only speak about it louder._

 _Wearing white on her wedding day had once been all Anna wanted. When she actually wore the dress she wondered if she could still run from all it represented. When her father walked her up the aisle each step was lead on the ocean floor. And When Alex Green slid the thin band of gold over her fingers, gripping them with an unnecessary strength to hiss, "Now you're mine" she regretted not moving faster._

 _They were married barely a week before Anna pressed about the debts. With each conversation Alex dropped the veneer of patience and compassion before spitting at her that he would never resolve them. When she asked him he only ignored her. When she pleaded with him he shouted her down, When she begged him all the response he had for her was the back of his hand._

 _Her family struggled and sobbed but there was nothing more for them to do. And when Anna saw her mother and sister in black she knew the reality of the situation. They refused to tell her what happened but the local police were still friendly enough to confess where the gun had been… and how they scrubbed and sanded a wall sprayed with the blood._

 _That was the final move for Alex. He packed their things and they moved back west. As he said, in a gleeful tone that struck a dagger of ice to her heart, there was no reason to stay longer. No matter how right he may have been, he turned away from her when she sobbed at night._

 _Unless he wanted her to fulfill her marital obligations._

 _She was no fool. When his actions in the daylight exhibited no affection she had no misconceptions that the darkness would be different. It was only scrambling pain and panting. Afterward, lying alone in the dark, Anna wondered if a person could die before their body finally agreed to release the ghost._

 _But the west proved no friendlier to her than Alex was. Her expression was one of unreserved skepticism when he showed her the barren land that was his. His attitude toward her perspective resulted in harsh words but no harsh actions… at first. Eventually he grew physically expressive and tried to assert the same dominance he had before._

 _To his surprise it did not work. With civilization so far away it no longer held Anna in thrall. Instead she held her own and fought back. One day at a time and once victory after another._

 _Until he forced a kiss on her. Slapped her when she fought back. Grabbed her hair and drove her across the house to stumble into the bedroom nook and knock her head against the wall. Held her down until all she could see, hear, or think was pain. Until it finally, blessedly, stopped._

 _They did not speak after that. Only side comments about the smallest od details. They barely looked at one another. In that silence Anna sought solace and hid her secret. The secret that grew day by day and month by month._

 _He had been so proud of his land. Wanted to show her the latest acquisition he had tricked from the Indians living nearby. Dragged her there on horseback to appreciate his success. Ruthlessly stolen out from under someone else… as it always was._

 _She went with him, not that she could argue, and examined the land. The argument started with a side comment she had not been sure he heard. But the row was enough to frighten off the nearby birds. The kind of row that had her screaming at him with all the pent up rage she could muster before his hand met her face in a familiar slap._

 _Hitting the ground hard, Anna could only focus on the ringing in her ears. It drove thought from her brain and the words mashed in her mouth. His hands, hard and determined, dragged her to her feet but she fought him with all her might. Again he struck her across the face, cutting the inside of her cheek on her teeth, and she seethed against him._

 _The ground tripped them both and while Alex fell to his face in the dirt she caught a saddle. Her fingers reached the butt of the rifle and she brought it loose. His hand flailed, catching the barrel, but Anna used the momentum to bring the end around to crack against his skull._

 _As he fell back, dazed, Anna dropped the rifle. It clattered to the ground as she finally noticed the horses. They bucked and reared on hind legs, neighing as loudly as they could and Anna finally noted the change in the wind. The dark, green tinged clouds, and the rush of silence that deafened her._

 _She hit the ground, clawing to hold onto the roots nearest her as the water rushed over. In a flash Alex, the horses, and the rifle, washed away. The roar in her ears and the battering of the deluge over her body almost beat Anna into submission but she clung tightly. She clung for the life she was sure already kicked and lived inside her._

 _When the torrent left her bedraggled and bruised, but alive, Anna picked herself off the ground and walked the long way back to the house. Within a day she changed her name, declared her husband dead, and took a significant part of her estate to support her mother and sister._

 _It was with a sad, though not surprised, heart she read their next letter with a sigh about their commitment to leave for England. They invited her along but she declined. By then her belly protruded enough to make life alone in her home difficult but how to explain it to others? How to explain it to herself?_

 _In the dark of a few nights she wondered what to do with the baby. Could she live with the daily reminder of her tormentor, of husband, of his crimes against her? Could she ever tell the child, whatever it may be, about their father? Did she even want it?_

 _All those questions answered themselves as she clung to the hands of two women holding her on either side as Sybil cooed her through the pain rippling through her body. As Mary helped bathe and swaddle the baby Anna knew what she would do. And when her little girl, with curls already pressed to her head, rested in Anna's arms she knew what she would do._

 _She would stay in the harsh and hostile land. She would stay in the house she would build over the aching memories of the old. And she would love the child she named with a whisper._

 _"_ _Elizabeth May Smith."_

* * *

Blinking, Anna went back inside her house and curled into the space near Lizzie. The little girl shifted just enough for Anna to squeeze between her and the wall, and cuddled next to her mother. They lay there together until the sun peeked over the windowsill.

Anna roused Lizzie, helping the girl change her clothes, and then shook Mary in the other bed. "Don't you have a bed? And a house? And a son?"

"All of those things are under the watchful eye of my mother who, as you well know, wants almost no part in this venture."

"I'm sure she'll find some way to save the day at the end."

"She'd have to actually engage first." Mary sat up, "Do you have any ideas?"

"We need to find a place where they can't smoke us out. Somewhere sturdy with plenty of places for us to hide but also not so many that we wouldn't have an eye on our enemy. Somewhere we could all gather, control the entries, and hold them off at multiple levels."

"The school." Lizzie murmured and both Anna and Mary turned to her.

"What did you say?" Mary rested her elbows on her knees, leaning toward Lizzie.

"My school uses the hotel, since it's empty, and that place is massive but there's only two doors."

Anna looked at Mary. "There's a flat roof with high retaining walls. We'd keep a good vantage point there without giving away our presence."

"It's right in the middle of the street."

"Then they can't box us in and they'll be available on all sides."

"What about the two entrances?" Mary shook her head, "I don't know if you've counted lately but we're not exactly at functioning at our fullest."

"We're women defending their homes and that's the equivalent of a pack of mother bears." Anna turned to Lizzie, "I think you might've solved our problem for us."

"Next issue," Mary took a breath, "Guns."

Anna grinned, "I'm sure you're father's got a few he'd lend to a good cause."

Mary nodded, her own face beaming, "And I'd like to borrow a few of Sheriff Carson's… since he's away."

"Mummy," Anna faced her daughter as Lizzie held up John's double holster, "And we've got John's guns too."

"Then we're all set." Anna took the belt from Lizzie, kissing her forehead. "We'd better get to it."


	17. Motherless Child

Anna pulled the final nail from her mouth and hammered it into place. Stepping back from the door she put her gloved hand on the wooden beams there and snuck her fingers between them to pull and tug until she satisfied herself with their hold. She gathered her hammer and the box of nails by the door while working to get the remaining planks under her arm.

Someone ran over to help and Anna smiled. "Thank you Mr. Talbot, that's very helpful of you."

"I figured real help would be better than telling everyone to pray for their salvation or barricade themselves in the church." He organized the stack and waited, "Where's your next port of call in this venture?"

"Your church, if you're willing to risk the boards."

"I think we should us it for places that people need to keep well and whole."

Anna paused, "Is your church not important to you Mr. Talbot?"

"The importance of church, in my opinion Mrs. Bates, lies entirely with how we weigh it in our hearts." He shrugged, "I find that anyone can hold a service or a sermon anywhere. If the building burns then we rebuild it but one can't rebuild the desire in the heart."

"You're the most philosophical priest I think I've ever had."

"I'll take the compliment and help you board up the next available door."

"This way."

As they walked Anna noted the women occasionally passing the entrance to the mine, each bowing her head and muttering a prayer before moving away. Talbot frowned, noting them with a nod. "What are they doing?"

"It's not a heathen practice Reverend."

"That's not my worry. I'm just more curious than I ought to be."

"I always tell Lizzie there's no harm in being curious."

"Then do you know what they're doing?"

"They're praying to the souls of the people they lost the last time the cloud of foreboding settled over this town." Anna pointed to their destination and Talbot selected a board to go at the top of the door.

"When the mine collapsed you mean?" Talbot held the board in place at one end while Anna hammered it in at the other.

"Exactly." She set the nail carefully and finished her end, moving to the other while Talbot continued to hold it steady. "There are some women in this town who claim they felt something before it collapsed."

"What exactly did happen?"

Anna shrugged, "I wasn't in town when it happened but what I heard from Mary later was that everything seemed normal. Just a few people with that tickle down the spine or the sensation that all the hair on their body decided to stand on end."

"Nothing concrete?"

"Not sure you can put concrete words to an abstract emotion Mr. Talbot." Anna finished with that board and tested it before reaching for another. "Don't you have a gut?"

"The same one that told me it'd be dangerous to ride after John Bates once so I guess we both know I give it a bit more heed now than I did."

"And all the better for it I'd imagine." Anna offered him the hammer, "If you want a go."

"I'm more than satisfied helping you hold it."

"Thank you much the same then." Anna dug around for more nails. "Whatever feeling the women had they tried to ask their husbands not to go or maybe it was to go in a bit later. I don't recall but the foreman at the mine was a very strict man. A kind one, to be sure, but he'd been in the Army and he believe in punctuality to the point of irritation."

"I guess we all pick up our little habits."

"Don't we just." Anna pounded in another nail. "Anyway, he called for all those going down and they loaded into the lift."

"And then?"

Anna stopped, offering only another shrug, "I don't rightly know. No one really does. One moment the winches were creaking as the next they juddered before the whole thing fell. From what Mary heard in the office there was a rattling crash before an explosion. Something about sparks on the lines igniting a gas pocket or something."

"Not unheard of. The coals mines of West Virginia had it happen a few times according to the papers."

"The rubble was so bad that Alfred, Sheriff Carson, Mr. Moseley, Matthew, Mr. Branson, and even the Mayor himself spent three days hauling rock with as many as women as could manage before they even found the entrance to the downward shaft. But they couldn't get any further." Anna looked back over her shoulder, watching another woman say her prayer at the mine. "That's this town's other cemetery Mr. Talbot. It's the only evidence they have that the men they loved ever lived."

"Why do they stay?"

"Some haven't got anywhere else to go and some don't have the money to do it." Anna finished the last board, gesturing toward the last house their batch would manage. "Mr. Crawley made generous offers to compensate the deaths, more than anyone else in his position had the necessity to do or had to offer given the contracts he had with the men, but even then there's the harsh reality that one can only do so much."

"He's a good man."

Anna adjusted the hammer in her grasp, trying to keep her smile contained. "I'm sure he thinks about as highly of you, Mr. Talbot."

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean Ms. Smith."

"I thought it was a sin to lie, Reverend?"

He laughed, "I'd rather not dwell on the number of sins I'm sure the angels of Heaven'll be referencing when I stand before the bar of God."

"Then I'd suggest, should any of us actually survive what we're about to experience, you commit yourself to the hands of God and ask Mr. Crawley for the permission to marry his daughter." Anna flicked her gaze toward Edith's hovel, "And encourage him to say us if someone asks for Edith's hand."

"Edith?" Talbot frowned, "Who's Edith?"

"Have you not noticed the Lady Godiva?"

Talbot's eyes widened, "The woman who rode a horse naked to Matthew Crawley's funeral?"

"That would be the one." Anna yanked at the last board before collecting her hammer and nails. "She's had a rough go and needs a bit more care then I think we've all be wiling to give."

"I'm not sure I understand."

Anna shook the box of nails, "When Edith was younger, one of Mr. Crawley's contemporaries, owned the General Store, courted her. They were to marry but then he ran afoul of some ruffians one night and lost the use of his right arm. He saw this as an affront to his ability to take care of her and left her at the altar of your church."

"How tragic."

"Unfortunately there's more reasons to feel sorry for Edith." Anna led Talbot back toward the hotel. "She was a bit unlucky in love after Mr. Strallan left Downton but there was a newspaper man from California who took a shine to her when he came here."

"Why'd he come?"

Anna stopped, sucking the inside of her cheek. "I actually don't remember. I think it was something to do with an article she submitted but it's hard to recall."

"What happened to him?"

"Edith and he were engaged to be married so he returned to California to prepare for their marriage. But the telegram for her to join him never came. Eventually she went there, to stay with an Aunt in San Francisco, but returned a year later." Anna shook her head, "News came to her that Mr. Gregson had been killed by some Vera Bates when he'd tried to do a story about her."

"If he'd been a bit more of a coward then he'd be that man." Anna followed Talbot's cue and her gaze hardened when she noted the newspaper man riding into town.

"Would you excuse me, Mr. Talbot."

She went to move but Talbot grabbed the hammer in her hand. As she went to protest he took the box of nails and hammer away. "I need them… for whatever else they may need help boarding up."

Anna sighed, pivoting back to her original course, and came to the man's horse as he dismounted. With a pull at his lapels he turned to her, extending a hand. "Terence Sampson, editor for the-"

"I know what paper you run and I know why you're here." Anna put her hands on her hips, "I'm sure you could us the simple courtesy of telling me how close Vera Bates is on your tail or if you're just the advance party."

He spluttered, "I'm sure I don't know what you mean."

"But you do." Anna waited, "When she's coming Mr. Sampson?"

"If Vera Bates were coming here she'd be about a day behind, maybe less."

"Then I'm sure you can make your way somewhere she'll see you so at least she might do us the favor of taking a shot at you." Anna went to walk away but Sampson put a hand on her shoulder. She turned with the motion, her hand resting on the gun at her hip. "Remove your hand or lose it."

His hands went into the pose of surrender immediately. "I'm just here to inquire about a bed or some food or-"

"You can sleep where you like," Anna gestured to the boarded up houses around them. "I'm sure the ground'll do you just fine. As for food… I guess you're as fed as you prepared yourself to be. Excuse me, I've got to help protect my town from advantageous and sniveling cowards like yourself."

He did not try to stop her a second time and Anna found Mary on the porch of the hotel. Their eyes met and Anna nodded. Mary sighed, turning to Sybil, standing at her side.

"Time to gather all the children together Sybil." Sybil hurried into the back of the hotel and Mary walked toward Anna, "How'd you find out? Gwen's not ridden in."

"Him." Anna jerked her thumb over her shoulder and Mary bristled at the sight of the man trying to speak to any of the women hurrying past him, going about their preparations. "I'm sure he'll find a prime target for reporting and then we can only hope a stray bullet finds it's way to him."

"If he's still standing unscathed by the end of whatever awaits us when that woman arrives that bullet won't be a stray." Mary held out her inventory to Anna. "Between our supplies as Desert Abbey and here we've got enough guns for all the women staying. We've raided the General Store and the Gun Shop for all the rest so we're in a better place where bullets are concerned but even those'll run out since honesty demands I admit we've not got the best of shots here."

"What about the Drakes or the Drewes?"

"Anyone already at their farms are staying put, so they say. 'It's not their fight' and all that." Mary sighed, "I can't blame them."

"Me either." Anna ran a hand over her head, "And your mother's ready to take the children at Desert Abbey?"

"Between she, Sybil, and Mrs. Hughes those children'll be very protected there."

"Is your father staying with them?"

Mary managed a snort, "He's got his favorite gun, all the shells he can manage, and a spot right at the top of the stairs. He's in his element, chanting about last stands and his days in the Army."

"Let's hope all he needs to use that gun for are stories to occupy the children." Anna gave the town a once-over before turning back to Mary. "Do you feel it?"

"Feel what?"

Anna shifted, grimacing as she searched for the words she wanted. "That gnawing in your stomach. Like your body knows something's about to happen but can't do anything to stop it."

"Not quite the deep breath before the plunge but yes, I feel it." Mary surveyed the town herself. "It's the same sensation I had that day at the mine. I remember standing in my office, going over those papers with a tea cup in my hand, and it was like a jolt to the heart. I dropped my cup and a moment later the explosion rocked the town."

"But you didn't know what it was?"

"This time we do." Mary sighed, "It's better than that feeling like someone walked over my grave when Matthew died."

"You felt something when Matthew died?"

Mary nodded, "Like a clutching at my heart. I couldn't breathe and my head spun for a moment. I looked a right fool but then you came and I knew what it was."

"Are you feeling it now?"

"Now it's more of a resigned acceptance of the fate that awaits us." Mary tapped Anna's shoulder, "We'd best say goodbye to our children."

"Yes." Anna walked down to the line of children being wished off by their mothers as Mrs. Hughes and Sybil helped them into the back of the cart.

Lizzie ran to her mother, holding tightly around her knees. "Aren't you coming with us to the Crawley's house Mummy?"

"I'm afraid not." Anna crouched down, taking Lizzie's hands in hers. "I'm needed here because some of these women are very scared and they need me and your Aunt Mary to make sure they don't get hurt."

"But won't you get hurt?"

"Elizabeth May Smith," Anna scolded gently, "Don't you know how good of a shot your mother is?"

Lizzie nodded, "But Vera's a good shot too."

Anna stayed silent a moment before drawing out the gun at her right, holding it out to Lizzie, "What gun is this?"

"Heaven."

"And this one?" Anna drew out the other.

"Hell."

"And whose guns are these?"

"John's." Lizzie's head bobbed with her definitive nod.

"That's right." Anna holstered them again. "He left these for me and with them come all the protections a husband can leave for his wife and a father can leave for his daughter. I'll have angels watching over me."

"John's not an angel."

"No, but he's asked the angels to intercede for me." Anna kissed Lizzie's head, "And angels'll be protecting you as well. I promise."

"I love you Mummy." Lizzie wrapped her arms around Anna's neck and she held as tightly as Anna did.

"And I love you Ms. Lizzie." Anna kissed her temple and then pulled away, "You'll be safe with Mrs. Hughes and I'm giving you the job of keeping the rest of the children safe too. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good girl." She lifted her up, giving a last kiss before Sybil gave Lizzie the spot near her. "We'll be back together before you know it."

"Bye Mummy." Lizzie settled in her seat as the cart pulled away.

Anna put a hand to her throat, aware her hand quivered there, as Mary came to her side. "I've made a mistake."

"Sending them off is the best thing we could do." Mary shrugged, "Though I'd rather a few demons."

"What?" Anna frowned, facing Mary, "What are you talking about?"

"You told Lizzie that John'd enlisted a few angels to protect the two of you but I think, in this case, I'd rather a few demons." Mary smiled, "By the wicked shall the wicked be punished and all that."

"I guess Mr. Talbot's teaching you scripture in your private time together."

"I'll not take another word from you about any of that." Mary pointed a finger at Anna, "But that's not what matters now."

"What matters now?"

"That we fulfill the imperative of Samuel."

"Now you've thoroughly lost me."

"To make the mother of Vera Bates childless."

"There's more to that story than you're saying right now." They kept pace toward the hotel, a line forming outside the door.

"As the phrase goes, 'as you have made women childless, so too will your mother be childless'. That's what we're going to do."

"Just as long as none of us become childless." Anna took her post on the porch. "I'm not ready for that kind of grief and rage."

"The fight so it's not what you've got to handle." Mary grabbed the first gun and turned to Jane Moorsum, first woman in line. "Third floor, front-facing window."


	18. Blood to Spill

Anna handed the last gun before facing Mary. "I believe you and I are for the roof then?"

"Yes," Mary lifted her guns, "I always liked the high vantage points."

They entered the hotel, listening to Gwen and Mrs. Patmore close and block the door before taking up their positions just inside the windows. A few other women huddled in the back of the room, whispering and fidgeting as they handled guns that sat oddly in their hands. Anna and Mary exchanged a look before taking to the stairs.

"They're jittery."

"They're not for guns or this kind of tension." Anna whispered back, "They've lost their husbands, they might lose their homes, and they're on the verge of losing their lives. I sympathize with their worry."

"We've not the time for it." Mary stopped for a moment at the second floor, nodding to Edith and Bertie as they took places at the front windows. "Can we trust that man?"

"He seems genuine."

"He's got the biggest 'I've had sex' grin on his face." Mary hissed, flinching a moment when Edith pumped her shotgun and took a crouched stance at the window.

"At least she's dressed in public." Anna responded, "And he can wear whatever grin he wants as long as he shoots straight."

"It's unsettling."

"It's fine." Anna pushed Mary toward the third floor where they gave greetings to Jane, Ethel, and Ms. Baxter. "I'll admit, I didn't know Ms. Baxter could shoot."

"She and Moseley do it together on their days off." Mary climbed the last set of stairs, pushing open the door at the top. "I think it's a little odd but who am I to judge? I fell in love with Matthew in an office, pushing papers back and forth for three years."

"And Mr. Talbot in the church."

"That's not-"

"No," Anna pointed across the way to where Talbot's rifle glinted in the steeple of the church. "He's sniping from the church. Taking out stragglers."

"Oh," Mary reddened, setting her shotgun to the side with the boxes of shells between the two of them so both could start priming their rifles. "I knew that."

"Mr. Branson and Mr. Moseley are keeping quiet on the ends of the avenue to hem them in and pick off runners from there end but they've got the word to keep silent until they're needed."

Mary nodded, "No need to spoil our surprise."

"Best not since we've got so few of them."

"Just us relying on luck and skill then?" Mary cocked her rifle and steadied it on the top of the ornate stonework gracing the top of the hotel.

"As someone once said, he who trusts in luck better have plenty of it."

"We're due for some given our run of bad lately."

"That's assuming we believe in the balance of the Universe."

"Or maybe the grace of God." Mary closed her eyes and Anna waited until her lips stopped moving before speaking.

"For now we've just got to wait."

"I never was a very good hunter."

"Then I guess we can thank our very unlucky stars they're coming to us, can't we." Anna settled on her corner of the roof, holding her rifle diagonally across her chest. "Do you regret ever telling me to keep Mr. Bates?"

"No." Mary snorted, "And miss this?"

"We could be leaving our children as orphans."

"Would they rather burn with us when Vera comes to ignite the town?" Mary shook her head, "I'd rather leave George knowing his mother killed the people who threatened him then hold him close as we joined his father in Heaven."

"But still, I'm sure you'd like to have more time than this with him."

"It's what'll set my aim truer and my eye sharper, shooting those bastards off their horses so I can see my son again."

Anna snorted her own laugh and settled back to wait for the signal.

* * *

"Anna!" She roused immediately at the sound of Mary's voice, lifting herself up to squint in the darkness. Scattered lanterns on the main road gave her enough of a lead to see a single rider taking their stock of the town. First up one street and then down the other before going for another turn.

Both women brought their guns to bear and aimed as the rider slowed before the hotel. The whistle shrilled in Anna's ears but helped her place the man on his horse. When no one answered the rider kicked the horse and rode off.

"They'll be back, whoever that was."

"I think they're supposed to be taking a count but there's no one to count." Anna settled back on her toes. "I'm glad Branson didn't jump the gun there."

"Me too." Mary frowned, "Whatever happened to Alfred?"

"He's holding steady at the Sheriff's office."

"Idiot why isn't he in here with us? Or taking another angle like Tom and Moseley?"

"He said his badge gives him the responsibility of that office while Sheriff Carson's away."

"He's more away than here these days."

"If we're being honest, I'm not sure how much good Sheriff Carson would be to us here." Anna sighed, "Mrs. Hughes intimated that he's got tremors in his hands."

"Are you serious?"

"God's honest truth. I've seen his hand shake on his gun and if I didn't know him any better I might suspect that he's just nervous or something but I've watched him take down a bear so I new Sheriff Carson doesn't get nervous like that."

"Do they know what it is?"

"He's just called it the palsy, said it's nothing he wasn't expecting since his father and grandfather had it but they've got no diagnosis for it."

"What's Doctor Clarkson say about it?"

"Wouldn't I like to know." Anna settled back, "They've not told anyone else. I only know because Lizzie saw it and Sheriff Carson swore her to secrecy."

"Which didn't include you, naturally."

"Naturally, my daughter and I have no secrets."

"Not yet." Mary paused, her expression all shadows, "I do hope she's alright."

"She's under orders to keep the rest of the children safe and she'll take that seriously."

"I just feel for them."

"Why?"

"All the children in that house with my fretting parents, a worried Mrs. Hughes, a solid Sybil, and a pacing Doctor Clarkson with only Daisy to feed them…" Mary shuddered, "Sounds like the stuff of a few of my nightmares."

"I'm sure Daisy'll rise to the challenge. And feeding children is easy, you make the simplest thing and they eat it."

"George has a refined palate."

"And who's fault is that?"

"I-" Mary stopped, holding up a hand, "They're coming round again."

Both women got back into position as another rider approached. Anna leaned over to Mary, "This isn't the first one. This one's new."

"I guess they didn't trust the first report."

"Women of Downton!" Both turned toward the road, looking between the decorative columns that would only reach to Mary's waist if they were both standing. "I'm here for one purpose and one purpose only, to retrieve John Bates. I've got it on good authority that he's here and he's all I've come for."

Mary nodded at Anna and went to stand but stopped when they heard another voice, calling from up the road.

"John Bates isn't here ma'am so I'll have to ask you to ride out of town now." Alfred came into view, still swathed in shadow due to the insufficient number of lanterns. "He's been taken to Santa Fe by Sheriff Carson so he's the problem of the law there now."

"I think you're lying."

"And I think you'd better ride on out of town now." Alfred's hand rested on his gun. "We've got rules here and one of them's against making too much noise at night."

"Is that so?" Anna bit back her gasp when she heard the swift slide of metal on leather before the crack of a shot. "And what's the rule for shooting stupid deputies?"

Alfred only wheezed, falling to his knees. Another crack and his face hit the dirt. The rider maneuvered her horse, holstering her gun. "The same fate waits for anyone harboring John Bates here."

"And if John Bates isn't here?" Mary called over the stone work where she and Anna crouched. "What then?"

"We'd like to do a bit of searching ourselves. Every house, cellar, privy, and grave. Then we'll work to the stables, barns, and farms until we're satisfied."

"What if we just shoot you right now instead and be done with it?" Anna shouted, staring at Mary when the woman just laughed.

"If I'm not back within the hour this town will light like a lantern. All these lovely buildings will wither and burn until you're just piles of ash in them. Then we'll still search for John Bates."

"We're telling you, John Bates isn't here." Mary called one more time as the woman below only scoffed.

"You have until the morning to produce the lily-livered coward. Sleep well."

With a kick the horse galloped away and Anna spoke again. "I guess we know how long we have now."

"We who are about to die salute you." Mary settled back, "Then I'm greeting the dawn fully rested."

"I'll take first watch then." Anna took her original position back, sighing. "Poor Alfred."

"So befalls the fate of the loyal and true."

"Do you remember the voice of the woman?"

"I could if she spoke again, why?"

Anna cracked her neck, "Because I want to shoot that one right off her horse."

"By the dawn's early light."

In the quiet that followed Anna whispered to herself, "Their blood'll wash out their foul footsteps' pollution."

* * *

Thundering hooves brought Anna to her knees, peeking over the top of the brickwork that formed the corner of her position. Dust kicked up in billowing clouds that obscured her view. Despite this, the sun held high enough in the sky to give shadows to the band of horses that collected outside the hotel. They whinnied and neighed, stamping their hooves on the ground as if they could smell the fear and trepidation that caked the air like the dust clogged it.

Anna crouched, moving toward Mary's position and held her rifle tightly in her hands as a voice, the same one from the night before, called up to them.

"We know you're in there and we know John Bates is in there with you. Surrender him now and we'll only burn your town to the ground. Refuse and you'll all burn with it."

Anna let out a breath and swung over the top of the stonework. She tracked the voice and snort with her shot. It struck the natty-haired woman right off her horse, blowing her backward to collapse in the dirt.

The shock gave Anna the perfect cover to duck back behind the stone work. Heaving in a breath her ears soon filled with the sounds of gunfire as the horses below pranced and screamed. Chips and whips of air soon flew around Anna as she stood and fired at the posse below.

Steady steps, left over right, led her back to her position in the corner. She ducked down again, reloading her rifle as Mary started her own barrage while sliding to the other corner. The echoing report from the guns in the rooms below them kicked up more dust as horses and men tried to avoid the line of fire.

Satisfying yelps and cries matched with the occasionally scream from inside. Those spurred Anna on, picking her targets with care as she unloaded another round into the waiting group below. The commotion only kicked up more dust and she squinted against the haze to let her shots fly free and true. But there was no confirmation but the occasional body hitting the ground with a thump or the fast break of a horse now bearing no rider.

Someone shouted out and Anna caught sight of Branson moving up the street, his rifle clicking with each shot as he advanced to hem those trying to escape toward the mine found their path blocked by a determined Irishman. Another call signaled Moseley moving on the group with his gun. Steadier shots than Branson's wild ones but no less true, he greeted the oncoming storm with a eerie calm.

Anna turned at a shout and used the last bullet in her rifle to hit the shoulder of the man who dared ride his horse to the roof. The horse rode toward them, the man holding his shoulder, and Mary fired her shotgun before diving out of the way. Taking to the other side, Anna saw from the corner of her eye the horse fall forward on its front legs and careen through the stonework to crash to the ground below.

"There go our bullets." Mary collected what she could, kicking her now snapped rifle out of the way from where the stone crushed it, and fired another volley with her shotgun into the recovering group below.

"I'm out." Anna fit the rifle to her back, taking a pistol hand to shoot at a man trying to jump from a neighboring roof. His scream as he fell between the buildings only gave her a moment's pause, "I think we need another position."

"Agreed."

They hurried down the stairs, Anna blocking the door at the top with the lock and jamming a piece of wood in the frame to keep it sealed from possible entry. They moved toward the room where Ethel fired wildly with her pistol until it clicked empty but kept pulling the trigger. Anna put a hand over hers, drawing her away from the window and ducking for cover as a volley of shots splintered wood in the frames and sent shards of glass flying.

"She's about half mad." Jane confided, taking Ethel's gun as the other woman heaved and whimpered on Anna's other side. "I think she's remembering something horrible."

"Her wagon train took the wrong end of a revenge attack Indians." Anna whispered, "There's not a lot of good memories for her."

"She's a danger to us here." Jane reloaded her gun, ready to take position. "We need her tucked away where she's not going to accidently shoot us instead of them."

"I'll get her to a closet or something." Anna took Ethel by the shoulders, leaning around Jane. "And you Ms. Baxter?"

"Setting them up for Mr. Moseley can take them down." She leaned around a window and placed a perfect shot between a man's shoulder blades. "Just a typical day off for me."

"Wonderful." Anna bent low, hustling Ethel from the room and found a small closet. "Wait in here until the noise is over Ethel, then come out."

The practically catatonic woman nodded, huddling in the corner as Anna shut the door and looked to Mary, emerging from one of the side rooms held by other ladies keeping climbers from the side of the building. "How are they holding up?"

"Well as can be expected I'd guess." Mary shook her head, "They're about out of ammunition themselves."

"Down another floor then." Anna reached the stairs and ducked a shot from a man climbing them before drawing her pistol to fire. He fell back, clutching at his face with a cry. Anna cocked the hammer back as she descended, firing into him again before moving toward the front of the building.

Mary came behind her, firing over Anna's shoulder toward the rear. Anna spun and brought up her gun but the man there did not move, except for a twitch in his foot. Both women sighed and headed to the front rooms.

Edith and Bertie still held their room, a dead man on the floor in the entryway. Mary hurried inside, picking up the dead man's gun to shoot out the windows at someone below as Anna opened a box of shells on the bed and loaded Mary's shotgun. She passed it over to Mary before turning to Edith and Bertie.

Bertie held his thigh, biting on a neckerchief as Edith tied his belt tight around his leg. Her own side bled from a shot to her hip but she seemed almost entirely ignorant of it. Anna grabbed for the rifle box and dug out bullet to load into her gun before addressing them.

"Are you two alright?"

"Fit as a fiddle." Bertie held up his pistol with a slightly shaking hand. "It'll be alright. We can take the window."

"We're just here to steal your bullets." Anna filled her pocket and then dumped the rest of the box in the other. "I do hope you don't mind."

"I wasn't any good with the rifle anyway." Bertie shuddered, sweat beading on his forehead. "Or bullets really. Not a bad shot though."

"I'm sure it'll be fine." Anna examined the wound, "Just a flesh wound. It's through and through so as long as you get a chance to clean it out you'll just need some stiches."

"I look forward to that less. Never been one for needles." Bertie seized forward and fired right next to Anna's ear. She jerked, deafened by the noise, and turned to see the man trying to climb into the window hanging there. Mary pushed him back with her loaded shotgun and fired into the crowd below.

All sound muffled in Anna's ear and she blinked. Her body fell back, head reeling to recover the sensation of sound. But her position had her in clear view of the door and she brought her rifle around to shoot the man climbing up the stairs. His companion, an equally greasy looking woman, tripped over him and Anna's next shot took her head off.

A shake to her shoulder had Anna turning and blinking at Mary. Her mouth moved but Anna could barely comprehend what she said. Another moment passed and she could barely discern the words.

"We need to get to the first floor."

Mary hauled her up and they hurried to the stairs, climbing over the groaning bodies in their way. Gwen and Mrs. Patmore held themselves in a huddle in the front room, cowering behind a stack of sofas as bullets thudded into the padding and dotted the walls behind them. Anna brought up her rifle, making a grape vine with her steps to move toward them while keeping her shooting steady.

Dropping next to them she dumped the contents of one pocket and both women grabbed greedily for the bullets to reload their empty weapons. Anna frowned, realizing they were trying to speak and turned her head to hear them over the din and her recovering ear. Gwen leaned forward, practically shouting at her, "Thank you. We ran out."

Anna nodded, taking bullets from her other pocket to reload as Mary set off toward the back of the hotel. A creaking from the front drew Anna's attention and then her fire as the door gave way with a crash. Her next shot took the man off the horse he used to burst into the room and the one that followed sent his following companion right back out the door.

Grabbing the horse's reins, Anna mounted and arranged her gun under her shoulder to ride the animal into the street. She adjusted her hat and fired when someone shot at her, dropping a body into the dust. Branson and Moseley converged on her and she directed them inside before signaling for Talbot in the steeple of the church.

A flash of fire rang through her shoulder and Anna dropped from the saddle. With her foot in the other stirrup she held herself next to the horse's body and risked a look over the top to see the originator of the shot. The next whiz almost took her hat from her head and Anna kicked the horse in the direction of the missiles.

That horse broke for it, carrying the rider out of town. Anna got back into her saddle, bringing her rifle to bear, and put the reins in her teeth while guiding the horse with her knees. She fired on the fleeing figure and hit them right in side.

As the figure turned in the saddle Anna dropped the reins from her mouth. The face, familiar from so many wanted posters, glared at her. Vera Bates urged her horse to run and Anna dropped her now empty rifle into the large holster on the borrowed horse to run after them.


	19. Devil Gets Your Soul

Anna closed on Vera's position, slapping the reins on either side of the borrowed horse's neck and hissing at it to ride faster. It's legs kicked up and Anna settled forward on the saddle, pushing herself up precariously in the stirrups too long for her shorter legs, and drove forward. When they rode neck and neck Anna pushed from her perch and dived sideways.

Tackling the other woman to the ground they rolled until Anna gained the upper hand. She pulled out the pistol at her right and cocked the hammer back to press the barrel to the other woman's head. "I think you need to come with me now."

"What are you going to do?" She sneered, Anna reading her lips as the smothered words floated heavily into her ears. "Shoot me?"

"I shot that disgusting woman off her horse and many others besides her today so I wouldn't be beyond taking your life as well."

"You can try." Vera kicked up and unseated Anna, sending her sprawling into the dirt.

Anna barely recovered fast enough to get herself standing and her gun up as Vera drew her own weapon. They stood there, both breathing hard, and stared down the barrel of the other's gun.

"Stand off then?" Vera laughed and Anna frowned, trying to work through the distortion in her words. "Think I'll blink first?"

"I'd rather your eye stayed open when I put a bullet between them." Anna leveled her arm. "Unless you want to come quietly. With all your posse dead I'm sure the cell in the Sheriff's office'll be just about your size."

"You've got a bit of spunk to you." Vera chuckled, "Must be why Batesy picked you."

Anna did not respond, choosing to hold her ground as Vera gained a better footing. "What, did you think I wouldn't recognize that gun you're pointing at me right now or the one hanging from your other hip."

"It's nothing to me."

"Tell me where he is and I'll let your live."

"We told your woman last night and she wouldn't listen." Anna stepped forward, "Last chance. Come quietly and I won't shoot you… again."

"I'm not stupid enough to believe you."

"Then we can stop doing one another the disservice of false promises." Anna let out her breath slowly. "Drop your gun."

"I don't think so." Vera smiled, "This isn't how I die."

"Excuse me?"

"When I was young I visited a psychic woman and she told me how I die." Vera sneered, "A small, blonde town whore like yourself isn't the person who's going to kill me."

"I didn't say kill you, I said shoot you. Killing's up to someone with a tight rope to give you a quick drop and sudden stop."

Vera clicked her tongue against her teeth, "Not that way either."

"I'm sure you're just dying to tell me how then."

"I'm going to have my heart taken from me." Vera nodded at Anna's gun. "Like your weapon there and the hangman's noose, there'll not for my heart."

"You must hate knives then."

"And you're not carrying one." Vera held her arm straighter. "Perhaps we should do this the old fashioned way. Ten paces and a turn on ten?"

"Like I'd turn my back on you." Anna shrugged, "I'll count to ten and you're welcome to see how far you get."

"Like hell." Vera pulled the hammer back on her own gun. "May the best shot win then."

Anna heard a crack and froze. Her own gun still held tight in her grip, the hammer back and no bullet released. She looked over at Vera as the woman's smile dropped from her face. Stumbling slightly she dropped her gun, putting a hand to her chest where a blossom of red appeared before falling to her side on the ground while looking over Anna's shoulder.

Turning, gun still ready, Anna's jaw dropped when she saw John standing there. He handed the rifle back to Sheriff Carson, still on his horse, and ran to Anna's side. Clicking the hammer back in place and holstering the gun, Anna threw her arms around John's neck as he lifted her into his embrace.

They clung together a moment before Anna forced herself away to take a better look at him. "How are you here? I thought you were in Santa Fe."

"We were going in that direction until Sheriff Carson had a change of heart." John looked back toward the other man. "He felt he needed to return and protect Downton."

Anna clung at John again, only releasing when they both heard a wheezing noise. John stepped around Anna, kicking the gun Vera clutched for away, and crouched before her. "Why not let it alone Vera? Why not let me alone?"

"We were everything together." Her fingers bent in a claw toward him and Anna watched John take them in his own. "We were a team."

"Not anymore. You ruined that."

Vera's body worked a shuddering breath, "I loved you Batesy. I loved you so much."

"No, you only thought you did." John sighed, "You don't know what love is."

"You loved me."

"I didn't because I didn't know what love was." John turned to Anna, "Not until I met her."

"You gave it all up for her?"

"And I'd give it all up again for her." John let Vera's hand drop. "Goodbye Vera."

"I curse you John Bates." She managed, trying to lift herself from the ground before collapsing back. "I curse you."

"Burn in hell." Anna spit as Vera's eyes closed. She picked up Vera's gun with a snort, "I guess she did die like she thought."

"What?" John's forehead furrowed as Anna handed the gun to Sheriff Carson before walking toward where the two horses she and Vera rode had stopped to graze. "What are you talking about?"

"What she told me."

"Told you about what?" John joined her at the horses, taking Vera's while Anna grabbed the reins of her borrowed one.

"She told me some psychic predicted her death would be by having her heart taken from her." Anna pointed at John, "If we accept that she thought she loved you and you shot her then you took her heart."

"Sounds gruesome that way."

"It was gruesome either way." Anna adjusted the stirrups on her horse and unbuckled the gun belt. "These are yours."

"I guess they are." He put it on, bringing both guns from his holsters and spinning them around a moment. "You only used Heaven."

"If I'd had to shoot her again, I would've used Hell."

"So would I." John removed the belt and handed it back. "But they're yours now, not mine."

"What?"

"You've used them and I'm leaving that man behind me so these guns, Mrs. Bates, belong to you now." John winked, "Think of them like a belated wedding gift."

"Alright I will." Anna mounted her horse, "I'll have to give you your gift later."

John grinned, mounting his horse, "I'd like that."

"But later, I think we're needed back in town."

"I think we are too."

They rode back with Sheriff Carson, towing Vera's dead body, and arrived to the remains of the day. Mary led the clean up, dragging the bodies of the dead posse into an organized line outside the hotel. She stopped when she saw them, smiling at Anna as Talbot joined her, throwing a body off his own shoulder.

"I see you found yourself a friend." Mary held out a hand as John dismounted. "Good to see you again Mr. Bates."

"And you Mrs. Crawley." He narrowed his eyes at the group. "I think you'll need me to start naming names."

"That'd be helpful." Talbot cracked his neck and adjust his collar. "I'll need to inform their families."

"If they still have them." Mary snorted, "Or even care. I say we burn them all."

"Everyone deserves a burial." Talbot chided but Anna shook her head.

"They're not going in our cemetery. If we bury them it's in a mass grave somewhere along the road that leads to town reading, 'Here lie the remains of the fools who tried to destroy Downton'."

"I'm sure that'll prove adequate deterrent." John pointed to the woman Anna shot first. "This is Sarah O'Brien. She's got no family."

"How'd you know that?" Sheriff Carson came around toward them, having placed Vera's body with the others.

"Because I saw what happened after she slaughtered them all." John rolled his shoulders and addressed Sheriff Carson and Talbot. "If you're ready I can tell you who to report as killed so they can stop printing those posters of them and wasting all the ink."

"How much are all of them worth, combine?" Mary asked and did not act the least bit flustered at the raised eyebrows shot in her direction. "We need to rebuild the hotel they ruined and anything else they've destroyed in their wake. I'm not giving up the chance to collect the rewards on any of these people."

"I think that'll be up to me to decide." They all turned as a thin man with a fine black hat rode up to them. "They're all in my jurisdiction."

"Marshall Carlisle." Sheriff Carson stepped toward him, tipping his fingers to his hat as a greeting. "We weren't expecting you here."

"I came as soon as I heard Vera Bates was on her way to Downton." He dismounted, lip curling in disgust at the line of bodies. "I thought, since Sheriff Carson was on my orders to bring John Bates to Santa Fe, someone should come."

"And do what, Marshall?" Mary pursed her lips, "Protect us?"

"That was the intention."

"And, when you heard we needed aid," Mary sauntered toward him, sticking her nose in his face. "How long did you sit back on you prettily dressed ass and wait?"

"I beg your pardon."

"Oh please," Mary scoffed, throwing a hand back toward the hotel where Anna noticed Alfred's body lay next to the newspaperman, Sampson. "He printed that Vera was coming two days ago. If you'd wanted to protect the town you would've been here ages ago. You wouldn't have hand Sheriff Carson chasing after you for weeks on end when he said he had John Bates. If you really gave a damn about this town you would've been here."

"I resent your accusations."

"Resent all you like." Mary stepped back, "It's the kind of men, like you, that bring shame the badge that shines just a little too brightly on their lapels. What, afraid to get it dirty actually doing your job?"

Carlisle ground his teeth, "I'm an officer of the law."

"A piss poor one." Mary turned back to the bodies, "I'm for Anna's idea about the mass grave."

Anna faced Carlisle, "I'm sure you could make yourself useful elsewhere, Marshall. We're trying to clean up after a rather busy morning and it'll take us some time."

"Then I'll just take John Bates here and be on my way." Carlisle pointed to John, who stopped in the middle of naming another man. "Since he's due in Santa Fe for his trial very shortly."

"Marshall I believe that time served in the name of protecting this community is more than enough-" Sheriff Carson stepped forward but Carlisle all but batted him away.

"I don't care what he's done to save his hide. I'm taking him with me to Santa Fe."

"That would be rather awkward for you," Anna slotted herself in the taller man's path. "Because that's not the John Bates you're looking for."

"Don't take me for a fool, madam, I've seen his face on enough wanted posters to know his face when I see it and that man," Carlisle jabbed a finger in John's direction. "Is John Bates."

"He's _a_ John Bates not _the_ John Bates."

"And what makes you say that?"

"John Bates, notorious outlaw, has two very distinctive guns." Anna noticed how John started to shake his head but she glared him to silence. "I don't see those guns on that man."

"They could be on his saddle."

"There's only a borrowed rifle here." Sheriff Carson pointed, "No other guns."

"Then he hid them somewhere." Carlisle growled, "They're not important."

"They are if they're here." Anna drew them, "A gift left by a passing stranger who used my barn some weeks ago and then left in the morning."

"Guns or no guns that man is John Bates because Sheriff Carson sent me numerous telegrams telling me he had John Bates in his custody and was bringing him to Santa Fe."

Mary cleared her throat, "It's a case of tragically mistaken identity."

"What?" Carlisle whirled on Mary, who held her ground.

"A case of mistaken identity."

"Is it now?"

"Of course," Mary opened her hand toward John, "That man's name is John Bates and he looks like the John Bates you want but he's not the same man."

"Then how do you explain the similarity?"

"It's not an uncommon name and this man possibly shares an unfortunate resemblance with your notorious outlaw because of a familial relationship perhaps?" Mary grimaced, "We can't help our relations. Speaking from experience of a woman who endured her sister riding around town naked for three years I think I speak from a place of unique experience on that subject."

"Sheriff Carson," Carlisle pivoted to face the man, "Release this man to my custody or I will take him by force and your badge with him."

"I see two flaws with that plan."

"Do you now?" Carlisle lifted his hands to the air, "And what, pray tell, are those?"

"First," Sheriff Carson removed the star from his chest, "I'm retried. Second, that man's not John Bates."

"He's with you."

"We're standing next to one another, that's not the same thing." Sheriff Carson shrugged, "I guess I'm just getting doughty in my old age."

"Don't you mean doddery?"

"Do I?" Sheriff Carson smiled, "Must be mixing my words too."

Carlisle seethed so hard Anna imagined she could see steam rising from his ears. "I'm taking John Bates with me and you'll all stay out of my way."

He made a move toward John but Anna drew the gun at her left hip, cocking it and holding the barrel to the man's head. "No. You're going to get your petty little ass on your horse and you're going to ride away with your tail between your legs."

"Or what, you'll shoot a U.S. Marshall?"

"I'd do worse." Anna pressed the barrel hard enough against his skin to send him back a step. "That's it. Keep backing yourself up until you get yourself right out of town."

"You don't know what you're doing."

"I know exactly what I'm doing."

"You'll regret this."

"Somehow, I doubt that." Anna watched Carlisle back down, mounting his horse before she uncocked the gun and holstered it. "You ride safely now. The road's a dangerous place for cowards and sniveling weasels like you."

Pointing toward Sampson's body, "Just ask him."

Carlisle huffed and then kicked his horse to ride out of town. Anna turned to Mary, "How did Sampson die anyway?"

"Stray bullet." Mary shrugged, "From what gun, who can tell."

"Anna," John put a hand on her shoulder and she turned to him, "He'll be back."

"Yes he probably will." Anna sighed, "With a whole posse of men like himself to drag you between them to Santa Fe."

"Then why-"

"Because Mr. Bates," Anna pointed to Vera's body. "Your debt is paid."

He shook his head, "I don't understand."

"She wants you to run away with her Mr. Bates." Mary interjected, grinning at them both. "And I think you should."

John faced Anna again, "Where would we go?"

"I've always wanted to see the ocean."


	20. Judgment Day

Anna smiled to herself, a familiar tingle of fingers tickling up her spine underneath her nightgown. "What are you doing Mr. Bates?"

"I was hoping to wake you up Mrs. Bates." He kissed behind her ear, "And it worked so I guess I should try it more often."

"Oh," Anna tried to shift to face him but he held around her waist to keep her in position. "And how will you explain that to the other ears in this house who'll definitely hear us if you wake me up like this more often."

"That they should move to another part of the house, Mrs. Bates," The hand under her nightgown shifted to squeeze at her breast. "But until then, you'll just have to keep quiet."

"I don't-" Anna bit at the rest of her words when his nose lifted the hem of her nightgown to pull it over her head so he could press a line of kisses from the rise of her ass to her shoulders.

"What was that again Mrs. Bates."

Anna only muffled her moan in the fabric of her pillow as his lips and hand moved in concert over her back and breasts. She rested on his thickening erection and pressed herself even closer to bask in the trembling pulse that then vibrated through her own body. Her legs kicked out, catching the blankets that covered them, and fumbled the fabric at the end of the bed to leave them exposed.

John's efforts at her breasts left Anna shifting and sliding in his grip. He turned them just enough to slip his other hand under her and set to work shaping the rest of her body with it. Anna twitched and shoved herself into his grip, trying to find fulfillment in the sensation of him just feeling over her body but she wanted more.

With a whimper Anna covered the hand teasing at her waist and guided it lower. John pressed briefly at the nerves there, his leg nudging her own apart to leave her open to him before he slid through her folds. Stroking in time now to the actions of his other hand and his lips mapping her shoulders, he set a punishingly slow pace that left Anna panting for air.

It was like trying to climb a mountain but the earth beneath kept shifting under her to leave Anna desperate and wanting. When she growled in frustration John only laughed against her shoulder and inserted a finger. Her gaps signaled his work as his thumb flicked and played at her nerves in time to the slow slide of one finger inside her and the others tickling over her weeping and swelling flesh.

Anna could feel him behind her and her only response was to grind back on him. He paused, the grunt of his gritted teeth her mark of victory, and Anna did it again to stutter his hand pinching teasingly at her breasts. The speed of his hands increased and they rocked toward one another, Anna gripping back with one arm to his hair to find some sort of anchor while the other clutched his wrist to urge him faster, and soon Anna peeked over the edge.

In the moment of relaxation John shifted himself to drive into her. Anna's teeth clacked together as all the air in her lungs escaped in a rush. She turned over her shoulder, surging to take John's lips as he drew back to thrust in again. Harder and deeper he drove until he stopped abruptly, leaving Anna whimpering, and grasped her hips.

With a gentle shift John placed Anna on her hands and knees, ensuring her support, before gripping at her hips. His chest scratched over her back with his lean over her to whisper in her ear, "I hope this is alright Anna. If it's not I want you to tell me and we'll change."

She could not manage words but the shake of her head was enough to signal John to move again, using his hold at her hips to set the pace. It began as slowly as his fingers had teased her but soon his own needs accelerated. Anna dug her fingers into the mattress beneath her, hanging her head as she tried to hold herself in place for each of his drives.

Reaching back as the sparks of orgasm flared again before her eyes, Anna grappled with her nerves, She met John's fingers there and they intertwined to accomplish the same goal. Determined presses and flailing intentions had them occasionally brushing at John but it only spurred him faster. There was no finesse, no taunting, just a frenetic need to find that pinnacle again.

And it happened.

Anna's arms weakened under her and she barely managed to maneuver herself to the side as John came down behind her. They lay there, a tangle of arms and legs, until Anna moved her head enough to see John's face. With a smile she kissed him as slowly as she dared before sighing.

"Good morning Mr. Bates."

"Good morning Mrs. Bates." He propped his head on his hand. "I think we should get up before there's a pounding on the door."

"Why not, for one morning," Anna snaked her arms about him, pulling herself close, "We just wait for them?"

"Because Lizzie's smart enough to pick the lock." John kissed Anna's forehead and got out of the bed, opening the window before moving around the room to the washbasin. "And I don't want to explain to her what's been going on in this room."

"She'll have to find out someday." Anna pushed herself out of the bed, stripping the sheets and bundling them up before taking his place at the washbasin. "Better now then later when she's already allowed more than a kiss in the barn."

"There'll be no kissing in my barn." John held up a finger, grinning as Anna placed her lips there a moment. "Unless you're the one kissing me or I'm kissing you."

"She's going to be sneaking them. She's the age I was when I first giggled about kisses from boys." Anna pulled her hair back, securing it as she turned toward the wardrobe. "We'll have to confront the reality someday that she's not getting younger."

"I'd rather not think about that." John sighed, tying his tie in the mirror before tucking his shirt into trousers and pulling suspenders over his shoulders. "If she's not getting younger than what am I getting?"

"More mature."

John frowned, "They call that 'older'."

"I thought you wouldn't like it if I said you weren't getting younger." Anna teased, tightening her corset.

"You can say that, you stayed young." John buttoned his vest and grabbed his jacket before standing before her to help tie the laces. "But I guess it had to happen eventually. We all have to grow up some time and this is what becomes of us. Old people settled into their routine."

"Speak for yourself, Mr. Bates," Anna kissed him over her shoulder, snatching her blouse, "You just said I stayed young."

"Minx." John snuck one more kiss, "I'd best get going or they'll complain about starvation."

"One day you might teach them to cook for themselves." Anna checked her petticoats and skirt before taking the bundle of bedding out the door to follow John.

"About the same time when you decide to teach them how to do the washing for you?" John let her by, opening the door through the back of the kitchen where the washing stacked. "I think they forgot to pull it down and it rained last night."

"It does that a lot here." Anna frowned, touching over the damp blankets. "To think, we had the choice of living in California."

"It was your idea to keep going north." John called from inside the door, the clatter of pots and pans shifting keeping Anna apprised of his progress. "I thought we'd stop once we reached the edge of the United States but you wanted to push onward."

"Kept us out of reach of the Marshalls." Anna came to the door, whipping a shirt out in her hand. "Wasn't that the point?"

"It was until we found out that Marshall Carlisle had worked with Vera and all the charges against me dropped." John opened the icebox, "But I guess that's what happens people want embarrassing things to go away."

"We did go away." Anna turned to the doorway, "There she is, risen to grace us all with her glorious presence."

"I don't feel very glorious." The girl there pulled her curly hair back, "I feel sick and clammy."

"It's just nerves Lizzie." John soothed, "You'll do wonderfully today."

"I think I've made a huge mistake." Lizzie shook her head, "I'm thinking far too grandly and I'll pay for it."

"You'll do nothing but be as incredible as we know you to be." Anna affirmed, turning to John. "Isn't that right John?"

"She'll make a wonderful teacher and she'll do us all proud when she gets the scholarship to go and study wherever she likes." John shrugged, "Maybe San Francisco."

"Or New York." Anna suggested before snapping her fingers, "England even."

"Now I'm more nervous than before." Lizzie stood up, "I'm going to-"

Before she could finish her sentence a rapid thudding can down the stairs and careened into the room, almost knocking Lizzie off her feet. Anna caught one body as it skidded toward the door and John the other. Righting the body in her hands, Anna tried to comb back the unruly dark hair.

"Can't you move at a pace like humans do?" Lizzie sighed, leaving the kitchen and making for the study as John straightened the collar of the other boy.

"Your sister's got an important exam today and I hope you'll be a bit more considerate of her this morning." He pulled at the boy's vest before pointing to the table. "Yes?"

"Yes father." The boy groaned and took a seat with a frown.

John turned to him, "Do you have something to say?"

"How come Jack's not getting a scolding when I do. That's not fair when he was running just as fast as me."

"Because Jack's going to do the washing and you're going to help your father with breakfast, Matthew." Anna fixed Jack's identically dark hair and directed him toward the tub of water. "Fair enough for both of you?"

"Yes mother." They grumbled in sync as Anna walked through the kitchen toward the study.

Knocking once on the door, she waited until Lizzie's voice bid her enter. Anna closed it behind her and joined Lizzie on the sofa where her fingers fiddled with the pages of an exam guide her eyes were not even reading. Their eyes met and Anna smiled at her.

"You do know that your father and I are proud of you, don't you?"

"Of course I do."

"And that we only want what's best for you?"

Lizzie gave a roll to her eyes and nodded, "Yes."

"Then you know that whatever happens today, we believe you're the greatest thing that's ever happened to us."

"Greater even than the twins?"

"Some days." Anna took a piece of Anna's hair and moved it out of Lizzie's eyes. "Today's one of those days."

"Why?"

"Other than because they came thundering down the stairs like wild horses?" Anna teased and they giggled together before Anna sobered. "Because you're our greatest supporter."

"I guess that's true."

"You were the one who prayed at a table so far away, so long ago, that we'd be a family and God heard your prayer."

Lizzie shrugged, "You wanted to pray for that too, you just wouldn't."

"The wisdom of children." Anna grinned, "You'll always be so special to me Lizzie and even if you go far away, even if you fail this exam, even if you succeed as grandly as I know you will I'll always consider you more special than anything or anyone."

"More than John?"

"I've known you longer." Anna put a hand on Lizzie's shoulder. "Remember that your father and I love you. We always have and we always will."

"Thank you." Lizzie pulled Anna into a hug, "I'm just so nervous."

"Don't be." Anna soothed, rubbing over her back. "Mrs. Hughes would be so proud of how far you've come and everything you've done to get here. She'll be watching over your exam, giving you help from on high."

"Really?" Lizzie pulled back and Anna nodded.

"There's nowhere else she'd rather be at the moment."

Lizzie brightened, "Then I can't lose."

"No you can't." Anna stood, offering her a hand, "Do you want to take breakfast now?"

"I think I'd like that."

* * *

Anna rubbed at her neck, sighing as John's hands took the place of her own. "That feels heavenly."

"Feeling old Mrs. Bates."

"Don't tease," Anna warned over her shoulder. "You're the one who said I stayed young."

"I thought you'd be more prepared for a full day handling the hotel on your own." John dug his thumbs behind her shoulder blades and Anna winced. "Sorry, you've got a knot here."

"I can feel that." Anna adjusted. "And I handled the hotel just fine. I just thought that maybe one of the boys'd like to help me."

"I doubt the temptation of working with guns was ever something they'd turn down." John worked his hands lower and Anna sighed. "But maybe one day one of them might decide he wants to be a businessman instead of a gunsmith."

"They're like you Mr. Bates. Domesticity won't suit them for some time yet." Anna sighed, "That's perfect, thank you."

"My pleasure." John pulled back their fresh sheets and Anna laid down beside him. "Is Mary still arriving tomorrow?"

"Yes. And if Lizzie scored high enough she'll accompany her to San Francisco for the next round of exams when she and Mr. Talbot go to meet their children for George's shove leave."

"I always wondered about Lizzie and George." John mused, playing with a bit of Anna's hair. "Just thought they'd be a good match."

"Me too but you should never rush those things." Anna grinned to herself, "And she wouldn't want me to tell anyone this but I know she's been writing him the whole time he's been away. Since they were children."

"Master George and Ms. Lizzie have been pen pals?"

"Of a sort." Anna shrugged, "It's a habit I think she'll want to keep up if she's going to do college there."

"That's if Lizzie wants to continue her education."

Anna raised her eyebrow at him, "That girl never quit anything. Do you really think she'd give up this chance?"

"I guess you're right." John kissed her, "As you are about most things."

"I was right about you." Anna drew over her face with her thumb, keeping his cheek resting on her palm. "I'll never regret that."

"Me either." John kissed her hand as his lips curved into a wicked smile. "In fact, I think I'd like to thank you for something."

"What?" Anna narrowed her eyes and then squeezed them shut when his fingers teased her legs apart.

"Don't you remember? It's twenty years to the day since you let me stay the night in your barn and didn't shoot me." John lifted her nightgown over her head, letting it flutter to the floor. "I'd like to celebrate that in style."

"I don't think I'd mind." Anna grinned down at him as he massaged up from her feet. "Are you sure you're ready for it?"

"Excuse me?" John scoffed at the affront, taking a finger to swipe through her folds and leave Anna arching her back. "I'm an expert at my craft."

"You're the one who called yourself old this morning." Anna teased back, losing her air when John lowered his lips to swirl his tongue around her navel.

"Then I guess we should remind ourselves how young we are." John let his tongue lead the way lower. "What do you say Mrs. Bates?"

"Yes." She groaned, throwing her head back into the pillows.

John's fingers and mouth worked over her. It was almost a variation on that morning's exercises but with equally pleasurable results. Anna's fingers dug into John's hair, tugging and pulling in the directions she needed him when words utterly failed her, and left her own marks while his teeth nipped and teased with his fingers over her folds. His tongue swept and sucked before plunging deep and sending sparks shooting behind her eyes. And when Anna thought she could bear no more he bit down at her nerves and sent two fingers deep inside her.

Anna's fall from her high did not go far as John entered her. His movements would not be hurried, like he had that morning, and the slow rock of his hips sent waves of rolling satisfaction through Anna. They panted together, the only other sound to match the steady slap of skin meeting skin.

She reached for him and John responded by lowering his mouth to hers. Their lips and tongues met with a hesitance that faded quickly when Anna traced the taste of herself there. With a tightening of her legs about his hips, Anna dragged John closer to send his strokes deeper.

His eager response left them both struggling to breathe. John surrendered his hold on her mouth to take over at her breasts, leaving them as loved at her felt elsewhere, and she dragged her nails over his back. He grunted under her actions and Anna used her heels on his thighs to guide him close enough that her fingers could sink a hold into his ass.

A groan in her ear signaled John's end and Anna snaked between them to accomplish her own. It did not take long, with her fingers accidently brushing him to let the hairs over both of their bodies stand on edge at the increase in pleasure, and John stuttered to a finish as Anna choked her send end. John collapsed on her and Anna clutched him close before he rolled to the side.

"Twenty years," He breathed, finding her hand and holding it to his chest.

Turning into the motion Anna's left hand rested over his heart while the other interlaced with the fingers of the hand that held it. She kissed his cheek, smiling over the skin there, and settled back. "Happy anniversary John."

"Happy anniversary Anna." He sighed, turning to leave a lingering kiss to her lips. "I love you Mrs. Bates."

"And I love you Mr. Bates." Anna settled nest to him. "However, whenever, whatever."

"For good and proper."


End file.
